Glazers confirm 100% ownership of Manchester United

Manchester United have told the Premier League the Glazer family still owns 100% of the club.

There had been speculation the American owners may have sold a significant stake to pay off their controversial £220m PIK (payment in kind) loans.

Doubts grew after the Glazers set up a new parent company registered in Delaware, where there is no requirement to reveal details of ownership.

A club spokesman told BBC Sport: “There has been no change of ownership.”

However, the repayment of the PIKs , which were first borrowed at the time of the Glazer takeover in 2005 and accumulated punitive interest rolled up year on year, raises more questions than it answers.

And fans’ groups now want to know if the Glazers have simply replaced one form of expensive debt with another that is concealed by the transfer of the ultimate parent company, Red Football LLC, from Nevada to Delaware.

With persistent reports linking United with a sale to the Qatar royal family, there is also the possibility that the Glazers have sold an option on the future sale in return for the money to pay off the PIKs.

But the club have repeatedly insisted that the Glazers have no intention of selling United.

The move to pay off the PIK loans last November surprised their critics and removed one of the biggest financial questions hanging over the Glazer business model.

Many had expected the family to exercise a right, included in their £500m bond refinancing last year, to use £70m of club revenue to start paying off the PIKs.

Instead the Glazers issued a voluntary free payment notice informing the holders of the PIK loans that they would be paying up in full – leaving doubts over where they had found the money.