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Kieran Maguire can't believe 'bizarre' Man United takeover bid - 'doesn’t make sense'
The Man United takeover bid from Finnish entrepreneur Thomas Zilliacus is ‘bizarre’ and has been done to ‘try and get publicity’.
That is the view of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who exclusively told Football Insider why Zilliacus’ bid ‘doesn’t make much sense’.
As reported by The Express, Zilliacus claims to have bid for Man United with the intention of running the club under a 50-50 model that would allow fans to own a stake in the club for a small fee.
The 69-year-old has also claimed that hte three interested parties – Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Sheikh Jassim and himself – should make a collective bid for the good of the club.
Football Insider sources revealed on Thursday (23 March) that Zilliacus’ bid is not being taken seriously in industry circles.
Maguire believes fans should not be involved in operational decisions at football clubs, and insisted that big decisions are left to professionals behind the scenes.
“This is an easy win to try and get publicity,” Maguire told Football Insider.
“The credibility of the offer has to be brought into question. The nature of the bid doesn’t make sense.
“Fans should not be involved in operational decisions. The whole point of a professional football club is that professional people make big decisions.
“Man United has 165million shares in issue, so although the proposal sounds democratic, one share in the club does not make a lot of difference.
“What we would find if it did happen, is that people would follow the herd when it came to major decisions.
“So I’m not taking this proposal particularly seriously – United fans have had the opportunity to buy shares in the club for many years and they chose not to do so.
“So why Zilliacus believes they would suddenly choose to do so under this model is bizarre.“
In other news, Man United three-man shopping list revealed