Manchester United co-owner Avram Glazer to sell five million shares but none of the proceeds raised will go towards the club

Manchester United co-owner Avram Glazer is looking to sell a portion of his shares after putting up over £71.5m worth on the market.

The co-chairman will sell five million of his shares but none of the proceeds raised will go towards the club following the shares’ sales.

As a result of the sale, the Glazer family’s ownership stake of United is set to drop from 78 per cent to 74.9 per cent with the offering of the shares expected to close on Tuesday.

The Class A Ordinary Shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

After the closure of the NYSE on Thursday the shares were priced at $20.13 each (£14.39).

It comes a week after the club announced their second-quarter financial results, which saw their net debt grow to £455.5m.

That is an increase of £64.2m compared to last year and can be attributed to the lack of matchday revenues.

For the six months to the end of 2020, United recorded a total revenue of £281.8m, down 7.2 per cent from £303.8m during the same period in 2019.

The club’s commercial revenue dropped 19 per cent from £151.m to £122.3m while matchday earnings slumped 94.2 per cent from £55.2m to £3.2m as fans continued to be barred from attending home games because of Covid-19 restrictions.

Broadcast revenue however jumped more than 60% from £97.6m to £156.3m over the same period.

The Red Devils posted an adjusted EBITDA of £91.1m for the first half, down nearly 15 per cent from £106.9m while their operating profit went from £47.5m to £21.4m, a fall of almost 55 per cent.

The Covid-19 pandemic has hit football hard but executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward said he was “pleased by the tremendous resilience the club has demonstrated through the pandemic”.

He went on to say: “The rapid rollout of vaccines in the UK and beyond gives us confidence that we are now on a path towards normality, including the return of fans to stadia.”