Glazer has pledged around £20m in transfer funds this summer but he will be aware, too, that an extensive recruitment programme will do little to repel the various supporters' groups opposing his takeover. The American multi-millionaire has not only employed round-the-clock security guards but called the police about a helicopter that was hovering over his
The Palm Beach Post in Tampa Bay reported that Glazer provided the police with the helicopter's fuselage number which was later tracked down to a neighbour.
"We weren't doing anything wrong, I swear," said the pilot Bob Miller, a local property developer who was on a joy ride with the county commissioner Jeff Koons. "I was showing Jeff my house and my son's house down the street. I didn't even know Malcolm lived there.
"When I got to my office the police were on the phone asking about a sniper on board. I was flying with the doors off but I can attest that no one wanted to do Malcolm in."