GILL TO MEET THE GLAZERS IN FLORIDA

Last updated : 05 June 2005 By Editor

Manchester United's new owners will this week finally reveal their business plans for the club at a summit with the chief executive David Gill that could lead to his departure from Old Trafford.

Gill is travelling to Florida for two days of meetings with two sons of Malcolm Glazer, the American entrepreneur who last month bought the world's biggest football club in a £790 million takeover.

Sources in the Glazer camp confirmed that the talks in Tampa would cover every aspect of the club's future, which is likely to see United adopt a more aggressive commercial strategy in order to pay off the £540m in loans they borrowed to gain control.

Analysts say Gill will stay in his £900,000-a-year job if he is convinced that the Glazer family's plans to turn United into an even more lucrative sports business are viable. He is due to hold discussions with Joel and Avi Glazer, who will now run the club.

Gill's first encounter with his new bosses since they gained control will be tense. He warned publicly before the takeover that the Glazers' plans were 'potentially damaging' to the club because of the high level of debt involved.

Although the Glazers have pledged to work with United's existing on and off-field management, associates admit that changes to the club's senior personnel are possible. Gill, 47, is highly respected in football but he may have irritated the Glazers by trying to stop them gaining control.

Subjects under discussion are likely to include the position of the manager Sir Alex Ferguson, kit sponsor Nike's threat to pull out of its 13-year £303m deal and Chelsea's new-found supremacy.