Manchester United co-owner Glazer will sell £71.5m worth of his shares

Manchester United have announced that majority owner Avram Glazer is selling five million of his shares in the club

If the shares are sold at their current value, Glazer could earn $100m (£71.5m) of which none of the proceeds will go directly towards the club.

None of his five siblings including co-chairman Joel Glazer are thought to be considering selling their stakes in the Premier League side.

Avram himself is also understood not to be planning on selling any more for the foreseeable future and he and the Glazers remain committed to running the club.

As a result of the sale, the Glazer family's ownership stake of United is set to drop from 78 per cent to 74.9 per cent with the offering of the shares expected to close on Tuesday.

The Class A Ordinary Shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol 'MANU' with the official selling shareholder as the Avram Glazer Irrevocable Exempt Trust.

After the closure of the NYSE on Thursday the shares were priced at $20.13 each (£14.39).

The American family purchased the club in 2005 under the siblings' father Malcolm Glazer when they purchased the Red Devils through a £790 million through a leveraged buyout.

Throughout their ownership they have been largely despised by supporters, with Avram and Joel being co-chairman after the death of Malcolm in 2014.

The news comes a week after United were forced to borrow £60million in reaction to their financial struggles as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

This followed a move last year where the club United took out a £200m rolling credit facility as a safety precaution against a significant drop in revenue.

Despite their status as one of the world's biggest clubs, it is estimated that they lost over £100m in income as a result of the pandemic, with supporters having been banned from attending games for a vast majority of the 12 months as well as TV revenues being hit as a result of the pandemic.

The Red Devils revealed that matchday income had fallen a huge 94.2 per cent from £55.2m to £3.2m over the corresponding six months in 2019

The club's net debt has risen by 16.4 per cent to £455.5m, while United's revenue was down 7.2 per cent year-on-year to £281.8m with profit dropping by 6.9 per cent to £33.8m despite having returned to the Champions League which provided more lucrative financial benefits.