Glazers pledge not to go it alone on Man United TV deal

MANCHESTER United’s new owners will not attempt to broker a breakaway TV deal, they revealed yesterday.

Malcolm Glazer’s sons, Joel, Avi and Bryan met at Football Association headquarters in Soho Square yesterday afternoon to offer ‘the truth’ behind their plans for United following completion of a hugely controversial £790 million (€1.18 billion) takeover.

The Glazers reaffirmed their commitment to the collective Premier League TV deal, insisted they were not a threat to the stable future of the game and also promised to support a government-backed healthy eating campaign.

Given the positive responses from FA chief executive Brian Barwick, Premier League counterpart Richard Scudamore and Sports Minister Richard Caborn, the Glazers could claim to have regained ground in the public relations battle.

“There has been a lot in the UK press about us in the last 18 months and this has been an invaluable chance to tell the men who run the game what the truth is,” said Joel Glazer, tipped to eventually become Red Devils chairman.

Glazer will provide his first meaningful insight into how he intends to run the club tomorrow evening in a pre-recorded MUTV interview, by which time he may - or may not - have addressed Old Trafford employees directly.

United officials remain tight-lipped over the Glazers’ immediate travel plans, but if they do opt to head to Manchester, they will face fan protests at the ground.