Secret plan to give fans ownership of United

MANCHESTER UNITED could become a mutual organisation owned solely for the benefit of its fans, according to a secret finance plan being drawn up by Irish financier Dermot Desmond, it was reported yesterday.

The idea is reputedly the brainchild of Desmond, a major shareholder at Celtic, who initially employed US investment bank Goldman Sachs to work on his plan.

Under Desmond’s proposals, the club would be bought with debt secured against its future revenues. Ownership would then be handed over to an unbreakable mutual trust whose directors would be independent and elected partly by the fans.