Edwards has debt concerns

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Edwards, himself no stranger to controversy during his time at Old Trafford, resigned as chairman in 2002 but remains an honorary life president at the club, a non-executive role.

"It concerns me that the club are in so much debt," he said. "The club are not in control; that family are in control of the debt."

Malcolm Glazer completed his takeover in 2005 amid much anger from supporters' groups, leaving the club with debts in the region of £700million.

"I can understand where the fans are coming from with their concerns," said Edwards.

"The crunch time will come when they [the Glazers] exit. Will they saddle the club with the debt or just sell the club on for a profit because that's all they are interested in? How will they leave the club?

"I'm not going to make any accusations because up to now they have behaved fairly well, supporting the manager, and they haven't disrupted the running of the club or the personnel. Time will tell."

Edwards recommended a takeover bid from BSkyB, worth £623million, when he was at the Old Trafford helm.

"I thought Sky would have taken Manchester United to a level where nobody could have got near us," he said in a new book by Andy Mitten, Glory, Glory! Man United in the 1990s. "That's why I recommended their offer in 1998. When they approached us, we had gone 30 years without winning the European Cup.

"I felt that they could have pushed us on to the next level."