The Glazer family is spending £250,000 a week in legal and consultancy fees in a bid to sell a share of Manchester United to Sir Jim Ratcliffe – more than they pay club captain Bruno Fernandes.

The convoluted sales process, which passed the one-year point this week, is costing the club the equivalent of £1million a month.

Club accounts reveal that during the first seven months of the sale process, between November 2022 and June this year, United paid £7m in legal and associated fees.

The Glazers are paying £250,000 a week in legal fees in a bid to sell a share to Jim Ratcliffe 

The deal to see Sir Jim Ratcliffe acquire a 25 per cent stake in it’s final stages of completion 

Fernandes earns £240,000 a week, while Mason Mount, who joined from Chelsea for £55m in the summer, is paid a similar amount. 

England internationals Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw earn considerably less than the club’s sales consultants have commanded over the last year.

A £1.3bn deal for Sir Jim Ratcliffe to acquire an initial 25 per cent stake is close to completion.

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Ratcliffe’s imminent arrival leaves United’s legendary former manager Sir Alex Ferguson feeling ‘optimistic’.

Glazers are spending more than they pay star man and captain Bruno Fernandes each week

Once his investment has been confirmed, Ratcliffe will assume control of football operations and will look to stamp his authority on the club, making a raft of changes and will seek the advice of United’s legendary manager Ferguson.

Ahead of Ratcliffe’s imminent arrival, Ferguson was asked for his thoughts on the billionaire and his feeling on the takeover.

In an interview courtesy of Gambling Zone, Ferguson said: ‘I am still a director of the club and I know Jim [Ratcliffe] well. 

‘We shall have to see what he does but I am optimistic.’

Earlier this week, it was reported that Ratcliffe will ask Ferguson, 81, for advice and guidance as he plots an extensive overhaul of the football side.