Manchester United co-owner Avram Glazer is scarcely seen in the stands at Old Trafford and is a much-criticised figure by supporters but was spotted in London on Thursday
Manchester United owner Avram Glazer looks set to attend their FA Cup semi-final this weekend after being snapped with boxer Derek Chisora in London.
The United co-owner, who appeared to be travelling with his brother Joel, posed for a photograph with the British fighter. The 40-year-old boxer described Glazer as an ‘old friend’, as he claimed a selfie with the US businessman.
Posting on Instgram, Chisora said: “What a great day, catching up with my old friend @manchesterunited”.
It means that the United owners are in England’s capital just days ahead of their club playing at Wembley. The 13-times Premier League winners are set to take on Coventry City on Sunday in the FA Cup semi-final.
The Glazers are scarcely present at Old Trafford but did make an appearance at Wembley last season. On that occasion they witnessed United lose to local rivals Manchester City in the FA Cup final.
This season has seen the New York family, who also own the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, diminish their interest in the club as they gave up a minority stake. Sir Jim Ratcliffe completed a £1.3billion deal to take over a 27.7 per cent share of the Premier League side.
Ratcliffe has seen a more hands-on approach than his co-owners and seen Dave Brailsford and his INEOS team become involved at the club as they look to appoint best in class. The likes of Ed Woodward and John Murtough have departed while Dan Ashworth and Jason Wilcox have been targeted as new arrivals.
The Glazers have never been far away from criticism and Gary Neville has proven to be one of their fiercest opponents. Even with Ratcliffe’s influence now in place, the former United defender talk aim at the majority shareholders in March.
“I think the Glazers have been negligent in the past 10 years in not appointing the right people,” said Neville. “We think Sir Jim Ratcliffe coming in is amazing because he’s appointed a sporting director and a CEO – it’s unbelievable really, it’s just like normal practice.
“My biggest thing is the stadium and regeneration. You think about Financial Fair Play now, and the generation of income that could’ve happened – United own 50-60 acres around the ground. Manchester City have invested in the Co-Op Arena that’s going to open in a month or two, they own half of that. They’ve invested in other things that have made money around the ground and invested in the place. Letting the stadium go and not touching the regeneration – those two things are just negligent.
“You can get the team wrong, sign the wrong players, lose football matches – I don’t have a problem with that. You can’t not have the best stadium with the money coming in and you can’t not have a CEO and sporting director that understand football clubs.”
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