London, Mar 5 (ANI): The owner of a UK-based millionaire bookmaker, which was once close to a joining a consortium hoping to take over Manchester United, has said that only 'an Arab sheikh or a Russian oligarch' can save the defending Premier League champions.
Since Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement at the end of last season, United have surrendered their position as the dominant force in English football and their struggles under new manager David Moyes have left fans worrying about a prolonged spell without success.
According to the Daily Express, Fred Done, who owns bookmakers BetFred, hit out at Old Trafford's American owners, the Glazer family, and said that the club can only be saved by a billionaire sheikh owner like that of Manchester City and Chelsea.
The report mentioned that UAE's Deputy Prime Minister and member of Abu Dhabi's ruling family Sheikh Mansour has invested a sizeable portion of his large fortune into United's local rivals City since 2008, which Done compares unfavorably to the Glazers.
Stating that City is 'murdering' United, Done also said that Sheikh Mansour has done fantastic for City as a club and for the city of Manchester as he does not care about a return on his money.
The Glazers, who also own an American football club, bought United in a debt-laden deal between 2003 and 2005, which was opposed by many fans and Done revealed that he was approached three times with a view to joining a consortium to take over United.
Although Done hailed the Glazers for 'pulling off a real coup', he however, criticised them for just paying the debt down and taking dividends from the club, adding that United is purely a 'financial instrument' to the Glazers.
Done also said that it breaks his heart to see that the Glazers are sitting in Florida while the 70,000 who love the club are paying for their debt and dividends and are not seeing a good team. (ANI)
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