By Kieran Maguire

24th Sep, 2023 | 10:28am

Kieran Maguire reveals Man United 'smoke screen' in new takeover twist

Poor results at Man United this season won’t impact the takeover value of the club.

That is the view of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who exclusively told Football Insider that reports of results impacting the takeover are just a ‘smoke screen’.

As reported by the Daily Mail, Man United bidders are reluctant to raise their offers after the club’s poor start to the season.

The Red Devils find themselves eighth in the Premier League after winning three of their opening six league fixtures.

Both Sheikh Jassim and Sir Jim Ratcliffe have submitted offers worth over £5billion, but neither bid matches the asking price of the Glazer family.

Maguire doesn’t believe that results this season will impact takeover value as bidders will be looking to see how United performs over a long-term period.

“I think that’s a bit of a smoke screen with regards to Man United’s modest start to the season,” Maguire told Football Insider’s Sean Fisher.

“As far as Manchester United are concerned, any owners coming in are looking to see how the club is going to perform over the course of at least five or 10 years.

“Two or three bad results early on in the season aren’t going to move the dial.

“There’s no reason why Manchester United can’t qualify for the Champions League, especially with the likelihood that English clubs will have five slots in the competition next season.

“So I think the accusations are perhaps a bit of scaremongering.

“Anybody who has done their due diligence will have been looking at Manchester United in a revamped Old Trafford or something considerably different to what we have at present.

“That would provide additional income streams, so a defeat to a club like Brighton is irrelevant.“

In other news, Man United to announce deal soon after securing ‘agreement in principle’