Everton’s former chief Keith Wyness has claimed the Man United share purchase from Ariel Investments is nothing more than a “stock market play”., the 66-year-old – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – claimed the new investment is “of no real significance”.
A filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission on 12 August revealed Ariel Investments has bought three million shares in United since the end of March. The US company now holds 8.3 million shares of those listed on the New York Stock Exchange, making it the largest institutional shareholder of the club’s publicly listed traded stock.
Around 22.5% of the club is publicly owned but the vast majority of voting rights lie with the Glazer Family and Sir Jim Ratcliffe.Wyness claimed Ariel Investments have made the deal with an eye on a potential new stadium build, which could give United a state-of-the-art 100,000-seater home.Join the Football Insider WhatsApp channel to get all our exclusives and the breaking transfer news FIRST.
“Obviously, this is a sign that they expect things to go well. They expect the new stadium project to go ahead, I’d imagine.“But it’s nothing more than a stock market play. I don’t expect the Glazers to start unloading stock and control at the moment.