New Man Utd takeover candidate drops hint as Glazers "untold damage" laid bare
Boston Celtics co-owner Stephen Pagliuca has confirmed he is "assessing opportunities" to invest in an unnamed Premier League club.
That will be interesting news for Manchester United fans, as Pagliuca has previously refused rule out a takeover bid. United's current owners the Glazers put the club up for sale last November but are yet to announce a preferred bidder in this long-running saga.
INEOS chief Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani are the frontrunners to complete a takeover of United, but Pagliuca or a minority investor can't be ruled out. Little information about the saga is being leaked out of Old Trafford.
Pagliuca's comments have emerged after The 1958 Group, a United supporters group, have once again urged the Glazers to sell up. They believe the Glazers have "inflicted untold damage" on the club after a decade without a Premier League title.
Pagliuca spoke about his desire to buy a Premier League club capable of qualifying for the Champions League in a recent interview with Bloomberg. The American is the co-owner of the Boston Celtics and also boasts a 55 per cent stake in Serie A club Atalanta.
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He said: "A league like the Premier League, if three or four teams are owned by a sovereign with basically unlimited investment, to be in the Champions League there is basically only one spot left for the other 16 teams that don't have those kind of resources.
"We're assessing opportunities [in the Premier League]. I think there's a higher bar there than there would have been, in terms that you have to be sure you have an academy and a structure where you can keep up with the economic disparity."
Stephen Pagliuca hasn't ruled out a takeover bid for a Premier League club (Getty Images)Do you think the Glazers will eventually sell Manchester United? Let us know in the comments below!
Despite Pagliuca's comments, Sheikh Jassim and Ratcliffe remain the two frontrunners to complete a takeover of United. Sheikh Jassim wants to buy a 100 per cent stake in the club, while Ratcliffe is trying to obtain the Glazers' shares - a controlling stake.
Ratcliffe's right-hand man Sir Dave Brailsford recently said: "Obviously we've been involved and it's something that we're very keen to do. "t's not something we can discuss in detail, we've got to sign up to NDAs [Non-Disclosure Agreements] and all the rest of it.
"But it's an ongoing process and we'd very much like to do it. To be custodians of one of the biggest sporting teams, brands, in the world and trying to really support the team and go back to the success they deserve. And also the fanbase."
Fans are waiting for the Glazers to give an update on the takeover saga. Speaking to BBC Sport, two anonymous members The 1958 Group said: "This family have inflicted untold damage, generational damage, on our club. It is personal and real to us.
"It is community. It is family. A lot of United fans would happily see United go down if it meant that the Glazer family left. Look at what happened when the Glazers came in - some fans went on to form another club. That is the strength of feeling."
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