The men behind the plan to buy Manchester United:

Keith Harris
The former Football League chairman made his fortune in HSBC and Morgan Grenfell and is now chairman of Seymour Pierce. His contacts book in the world of the football business is unrivalled — he advised Chelsea on their sale to Roman Abramovich. Speculation is running high that his close friend Martin Edwards could become part of the Red Knights consortium.

Paul Marshall
Probably the wealthiest of the buyout squad. The 49 year-old financier co-founded his hedge fund Marshall Wace in 1997. At the last count, he was worth £200m although the volatile financial markets have hit him relatively hard.

Mark Rawlinson
One of London's wealthiest lawyers. The United fan is thought to be informally acting as legal adviser, using his decades of experience in corporate law that now see him handsomely rewarded as corporate chief at City law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.

Richard Hytner
President of the Manchester United Supporters Trust. He made his fortune out of persuading people to buy his clients' products at Saatchi & Saatchi, where he is deputy chairman, and the Publicis marketing giant beforehand. He set up Shareholders United Against Murdoch at the time of Sky's attempted takeover of the club.

Jim O'Neill
Probably the City's best known economist, working as he does for Goldman Sachs. The Manchester-born egghead has had some interesting conversations with his bosses at the bank, as Goldman was in charge of the lucrative contract to sell United's bonds for the Glazers.