With a British billionaire having stated his interest in buying the club, the Glazer family has reportedly made a big decision about their ownership of Manchester United.
The club's American owners have been intensely criticised for failing to lead the Red Devils to sustained success on the pitch since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013, while their initial leveraged takeover was protested as they put the club into debt to fund their purchase in 2005.
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United have now gone five years without a trophy, and pressure is at an all-time high for the current owners, with pundits and fans alike slamming the Glazers for mismanaging the team.
British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe revealed in August that he wanted to buy the Manchester club, and with a reported net worth of £9.8 billion (R195 billion), he is one of few businessmen who could afford to do so.
It was later reported that the Glazers had put a price tag of £3.75 billion (R74 billion) on the Premier League giants, with the expectation that a bidding war could lead to an even bigger fee.
However, Ratcliffe has now revealed that the United States businessmen have decided they do not want to sell up after all.
"Manchester United is owned by the Glazer family, whom I have met," Britain's richest man told the Financial Times on Tuesday, per ESPN.
"I've met Joel [Glazer] and Avram [Glazer] and they are the nicest people, I have to say.
"They are proper gentlemen, really nice people, and they don't want to sell it.
"It's owned by the six children of the father and they don't want to sell it.
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"If it had been for sale in the summer, yes, we would have probably had a go following on from the Chelsea thing [Ratcliffe was interested in buying the Blues but lost out to Todd Boehly's consortium], but we can't sit around hoping that one day Manchester United will become available."
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