Elon Musk not the saviour, but Manchester United plagued by clear and obvious issues

Manchester United have had a disastrous start to the ongoing Premier League season under new manager Erik Ten Hag, who arrived at the club from Dutch side Ajax earlier this summer. Ten Hag has signed up for arguably the biggest challenge of his managerial career so far, but finds himself in troubled waters just a couple of games into his first season at the club.

The Dutch manager had massive optimism surrounding his arrival after United showed glimpses of brilliant football Ten Hag is known for, during their pre-season tour of Thailand and Australia. But the buoyancy was a short-lived one as back-to-back losses against Brighton and Brentford in the first two games of the season pushed United to the bottom of the table.

United were shambolic in defence and far from clinical in attack as the lack of quality in the squad was crystal clear on the pitch during their defeats against Brighton and Brentford. While they were expected to kick off the new season with new vigour after a dismal campaign last season, Ten Hag's men looked completely out of sorts in the two defeats which have served as an eye-opener.

But the problems at United are clear and obvious. They are far beyond Ten Hag's reach as the club's owners — The Glazer family — are to be blamed for bringing down the English football giants. Deservingly, the Glazers find themselves at the receiving end of massive criticism from fans, experts and former players alike after United's terrible start.

In their 17 years of ownership of United, the Glazers have made some awful footballing decisions; they have failed to install a proper hierarchy at the club to run the footballing side of their ‘commercial’ venture, and instead of pumping in money to strengthen the squad over the years, have put the club under mounting debt while also enjoying annual dividends.

The Glazers have been accused of leaving Manchester United'to rot' while they continue to milk money out of the most successful club in the history of English football. So much so, that the fans, former players and experts have had enough and have called out the owners for 'destroying' the club in recent days.

Who are the Glazers? How did they buy Manchester United?

Avram, Joel, Bryan, Kevin, Edward and Darcie - the six Glazersiblings currently own Manchester United, one of the most popular clubs in the world with a staggering fan following across the globe. Their father Malcolm Glazer, an American business tycoon, had entered the sports business for the first time when he bought the Tampa Bay Buccaneers team in America's National Football League (NFL).

After running the Buccaneers, Glazersiblings Joel, Edward and Bryan set their sights on buying Manchester United. It was in 2003, that Malcolm Glazer made his first move and bought 2.9% shares of United for around $4.7 million. He kept increasing his stake and reached the coveted 30% mark which was enough to launch a full takeover bid.

The Glazers increased their stake to 58.7% after United's former manager Sir Alex Ferguson had a fall out with John Magnier and J. P. McManus, who collectively owned 28.7% shares of the club. Glazers sensed an opportunity and made the most of it as they bought the entire 28.7% stake from the duo to increase their stake while retaining Ferguson as the manager.

Their ownership soon rose to 75% before Glazers took full control of the club in 2005 for a sum of around £790 million. However, there was a catch, the Glazers didn't spend their own money to buy Manchester United and instead opted to finance the move through loans. The Glazers only spent £270m on their own financed the rest by placing the club into debt.

It was for the first time since 1931, that United, a debt-free club, was put into debt. It was the beginning of what has panned out to be a disastrous stint for the Glazers as the owners of United with success eluding the club for a number of years and fans growing impatient with every passing season as they witness their beloved football club being brought down to the ground.

One of the most profitable football clubs in the world, United had to pay interest payments of around £62 million every year after the Glazers financed their purchase of the club with a loan and put it on the United brand. Instead of hoping for new investment into the club, United found itself spending millions to pay off the debt.

Why theGlazers have been called 'leeches' by Manchester United fans?

Manchester United was a debt-free club till the Glazers took over in 2005 by taking a loan of around a staggering £525 million and put it on the club to pay it off. The Manchester United fans had sensed what was to come in the future and protests outside Old Trafford, the club's home ground had begun even before the Glazers' takeover was complete.

However, the protests were not as fierce as they have been in the last few years as the fans still hoped the American owners would take the club in the right direction. However, that has clearly not been the case as United, one of the top clubs in the world, has been far from challenging for major titles since the departure of Alex Ferguson.

In 2010, United's debt rose to a staggering £716.5 million which forced the club to issue bonds of around £500 million to pay it off. As per reports, United's current debt sits at around £627 million. The club has paid around £855m alone in interests which could have easily been invested into infrastructure, stadium and in improving the quality of the squad that is currently crying for reinforcements.

If the debt was not enough, from 2016 the Glazers started taking out more money as dividends for the shares they own. They havetaken out around £154 million in dividends in the last six years and continue to fill their pockets with millions of pounds annually despite the club needing a complete rebuild from top to bottom.

All this, while not investing properly in the squad and not having a proper structure at the club to run the footballing side of it, has left the fans exhausted but louder than ever. The Glazers have been termed'leeches' withcalls for the Americanownersto sell the club growinglouder in the last few years than ever before due to their sheer inability to properly run one of the biggest football clubs in the world.

Have Glazers not spent money on transfers?

The Glazers had their faces saved by the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson in their initial years after buying United as the former manager delivered success on the pitch to paper over the cracks. However, United have not managed to win a single Premier League title ever since his departure in 2013 when the club won their last league title.

From 2005 to 2013, Manchester United had a net spend of just £164m which averages just over £20 million per season over eight years. At the same time, the likes of Chelsea, Manchester City and other top European clubs were spending big money in the transfer market to get the players they wanted to achieve success.

With Ferguson in charge, United's transfer howlers were majorly covered over as the legendary manager still was able to help the club win titles one after another. However, the Glazers were left exposed once Ferguson left the club as United's inability to track the best talents and bring them to Old Trafford ended up costing them on the pitch.

United have spent over £1 billion in transfers since Ferguson's departure but they have little to show for the money spent as a number of signings over the years have flopped and flopped massively at the club. The likes ofBastian Schweinsteiger, Memphis Depay, Marouane Fellaini, Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku among others have all flopped at Old Trafford, exposing United's below-par recruitment and transfer strategy.

While many might argue the Glazers still have paid money, the over £1 billion spent on transfers since 2013 is the money generated by the club. The Glazers have not put in any investment into the club but have rather taken money out in dividends while the debt remains over£600 million even 17 years after the takeover.

As per Sky Sports, the Glazers' takeover of United has ended up costing the club an unbelievable£1.5-2 million pounds, the majority of which could have been utilised in the proper functioning of the club and ensuring it remains as successful as it was under Ferguson, who won a stunning 13 Premier League and 2 Champions League titles during his glorious stint and is widely regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time.

Elon Musk's bluff

Amid their continuous efforts to force The Glazers to sell their beloved club for its own good, Manchester United fans saw a ray of hope when Tesla COO Elon Musk put out a tweet on Wednesday (August 17) saying he was buying the English club. Twitter was soon flooded with reactions as United fans saw light at the end of the tunnel.

However, their joy was short-lived as it was yet another bluff from Musk, who is known for his pointless tweets. The world's richest person was quick to clarify in another tweetthat it was just a joke and that he is not planning on buying a sports team. However, Musk insisted if he wereto buy a sports team it will be United, as the club was his favourite in childhood.

"No, this is a long-running joke on Twitter. I’m not buying any sports teams," Musk said in his tweet replying to a user, who asked him if he was serious about buying the English club.

"Although, if it were any team, it would be Man U. They were my fav team as a kid," he said in another.

There is no questionthat Musk has all the resources that he would need to buy Manchester United, but the club's problems run deeper and it is in dire need of an owner, who would be willing to be invested in sorting out the underlying issues at Old Trafford. And as of now, Musk isn't United's saviour as he is not interested in buying the Premier League giants.

Musk, who had recently pulled out of a deal to buy social media giantTwitter after being denied information he sought, would be in for an even bigger challenge at United if he opts to buy the sleeping giants of English football, who might be up for sale sooner rather than later as the Glazers, who value the club at£4 billion might give in one day amidthe mounting pressure from all corners.

Former Manchester United captain Gary Neville had perfectly put in on Sky Sports last week when he called out the Glazers urging them to sell the club while slamming them for their awful ownership.

“There is a family in America that is letting its employees take the blame. They need to get on a plane to Manchester and explain what the plan is. We never will have the Glazers here," said Neville, who played a staggering 602 matches for United.

“The only money that has been spent on players has been generated by the club. The Glazers have borrowed and used the revenue the club generates through its amazing fanbase.”

“My point is there has been a toxic culture at this club for the last 10 years since Alex Ferguson and (CEO) David Gill left. It’s a mess. And it cannot continue to go on. The embedded failure over a ten-year period has to come back to the owner. I blamed (CEO Ed) Woodward for a long time but the Glazers left him in situ," he added.