Red Knights remain confident

Harris: Confident

People should understand that the purpose of any takeover is to give loyal supporters part ownership of the club and give them a voice.

Keith Harris
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Keith Harris, the man fronting the Red Knights' takeover bid for Manchester United, is confident a deal will be done.

Harris, an expect in footballing financial matters and chairman for city bank Seymour Pierce, is fronting the Red Knights - which is made up of a number of city-based investors, who are all keen on taking a stake in United.

At the moment it is reported that pledges of over £1billion have been made and the Red Knights are gearing up to lodge a formal offer - despite the repeated statements from current United owners, the Glazer Family, that the club is not for sale.

But Harris remains optimistic that a deal will be done and he told the News of the World that the Glazers could be left with no options but to cash in.

"Because they have to service the debt and that costs £43m per year for the bonds with the cost of the PiK (Payment in Kind notes) in addition. Now the PiK doesn't take up cash but it is storing up debt," said Harris.

"They need the profits to pay the interest, to deal with the PiKs, to deal with reinvestment in the squad and if they think that all those things can't be assured from revenue then they must be scratching their heads thinking 'How are we going to handle this?'.

"Whereas a lot of the opposition to the Glazers was factionalised (in 2005) and some of it was manifested in a thug-like behaviour, with the balaclavas and that kind of thing, others tried to be more constructive. This time round the world's a very different place.

"One imagines the Glazers' businesses in America are struggling, the banks can't lend like they used to and United is under competitive challenge.

"You put all those into the mix and it might not be this season, but let's say the Glazers have to meet an interest bill and they haven't got the cashflow through the business, then there's only one asset they can sell and that's amongst the players."

Overall plans

Harris continued to outline the overall plans of the group.

"In any form of takeover you look for as much stability as possible because it is at least for a short while destabilising," he said.

"Which is why a number of people say 'What would the timing for this be?'

"Well, I don't know, but you try and do these things, if you do them, during a period of relative quiet which points to the off season.

"We need a collective, unified voice to make this happen.

"Sir Alex Ferguson doesn't need to speak out and I don't even think it's desirable actually because he should be absolutely secure in the knowledge that if there was a deal put together he would automatically be prepared to be expected and invited to be a part of it.

"He doesn't need to go and muddy the waters.

"People should understand that the purpose of any takeover is to give loyal supporters part ownership of the club and give them a voice.

"If there were people who were considering giving up their season tickets on account of what they've heard about the Glazers' plans from the bond issue prospectus, then in the event that our takeover was successful we're sure it could be worked out so that they regained their places.

"We'd implement a block holding of 25.1 per cent to permanently prevent another future takeover by the likes of Glazer.

"Season ticket holders would get their seats back at a lower price and become shareholders in the club.

"I've been reading about the possibility that people with corporate boxes and season tickets may actually take a stand.

"It's not about turning up late at matches - the club's already had their money. It's if those people say they're not going to renew."