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Gary Neville shuts down Roy Keane after he asks how Glazers 'got involved' with Man Utd in first place
Gary Neville shuts down Roy Keane after he asks how Glazers 'got involved' with Man Utd in first place

On the latest episode of Stick to Football, Roy Keane attempted to revisit how the Glazer family first became involved with Manchester United, but Gary Neville was seemingly reluctant to discuss the matter.

For those unaware, the Glazer family's takeover of Manchester United in 2005 has a controversial backstory involving Ferguson, a racehorse called Rock of Gibraltar, and a bitter dispute with two Irish billionaires.

Ferguson had previously developed a close relationship with John Magnier and JP McManus, who owned a significant stake in United.

However, tensions escalated when Ferguson became embroiled in a legal dispute with Magnier over the exact nature of the ownership of Rock of Gibraltar, a successful racehorse.

Their relationship deteriorated and in May 2005, Magnier and McManus sold their 28.7 per cent stake to American businessman Malcolm Glazer for approximately £227 million, giving him majority control.

"No-one wants to talk about the horse. Can we talk about the horse?"

Glazer subsequently completed a £790 million leveraged takeover, which resulted in United taking on significant debt that Gary Neville mentioned during the latest episode of Stick to Football.

When speaking about the Glazers, Neville said: "There's £1.2 billion ($1.6 billion) of debt in that football club, they're hamstrung in some ways."

He added: "They've spent an absolute fortune on players, just under Man City in the last 15 years. £1.4bn ($1.86bn) on players, they're second in the spending, but a lot of it's the never-never."

Soon, though, former United captain Roy Keane proceeded to mention what many believe to be the elephant in the room. "How did the Glazers get involved in the first place?" he asked Neville.

Neville soon replied: "We know that, Roy. The Glazers have to sell now. They have to sell. I'm sorry, the time has come."

Keane wasn't done there. "There's a horse involved in this, you know what I mean?" he said. "No-one wants to talk about the horse. Can we talk about the horse? The horse is key."

Gary Neville tells the Glazers to sell their stakes in Man Utd

As United continue to struggle on the pitch after an underwhelming summer transfer window, Neville has urged the Glazers to sell up.

"They have subcontracted the football department out to INEOS, they are trying to run the football department, they have had three years of struggling and it looks like this year is going to be a struggle," he said on Stick to Football.

"The Glazer family over in America, in Tampa, they're very popular over there, they go to every game, apparently, I hear, they go to all the NFL games, they've hardly been to Old Trafford in 20-odd years.

"My point is, they have to sell now, enough is enough, the club is in debt, you've not spent a penny on the stadium, you're now trying to borrow £2bn for a stadium you don't know how you're going to borrow.

"You've got a failure of 13, 14 years on the football side, you've subbed it out to somebody else, which is ridiculous, and not took responsibility. It is now at a point where they have to sell.

"Enough is enough, they have to sell the whole the club. The fans have had enough. They have to go now.

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