United need owners who can see the club's fans as partners and not problems

After 17 years, Manchester United are finally on the market and the roundly detested ownership of the Glazer family appears to be coming to an end.

- Andy Green

But what does a good, and realistic, out-come for United supporters look like? What can a football fan reasonably expect of an owner in 2022? The simpler days of the local businessman (always a man) chairing the board, putting their hand in their pocket to build a new stand or to sign a new player, compares favourably in fans' minds to a world of sovereign-wealth funds, oligarchs or American "sports entrepreneurs". Yet the reality of those days was never as good as our sepia-tinted collective memories suggest, and all recent transactions for Premier League clubs indicate it will be financially driven buyers looking to acquire England's leading clubs. Even local lad Sir Jim Ratcliffe is motivated more by his belief that top-flight teams will continue to grow in value, than his support for United. After all, he tried to buy Chelsea.

It is not unreasonable, however, for fans to expect any owner, whether financially driven or not, to understand the history and culture of a club, and to realise they are custodians of an institution that will last long after they have gone. Clubs endure, through ups, downs, relegation, promotion - even insolvency and they do so because the supporters endure, through families and friends, tying people together in common cause.