Football financier Keith Harris has been approached by wealthy investors to broker a takeover of Manchester United. Manchester United's Supporters' Trust has held meetings with influential club supporters interested in exploring the options for a change of ownership.
And Harris says that the time has come for supporters to buy the club back from the Glazer family.
"You sense that the momentum is gathering and this time these fans truly mean it," Harris told BBC Sport. "I think they are saying that enough is enough, there is too much gearing on this football club and it is unhealthy."
Harris, the head of merchant bank Seymour Pierce, has been involved in four Premier League club takeovers and has long been critical of United's debt that earlier in January was recorded at £716m. United's recent bond issue raised £500m to ease their debts, but also provoked a furious backlash from many fans, some demanding an immediate change of ownership.
Despite the move by the Manchester United's Supporters' Trust, the Glazer family have told BBC Sport that they are here for the long-term and insisted that their interests are aligned with those of the fans. On Friday members of Manchester United's Supporters' Trust met with "super-rich" and "influential" investors, with lifelong United fan Harris at the centre of the discussions.
Harris declined to name any of the people who have approached him, identifying them only as 'The Red Knights'. (Daily Mail)