As time elapsed, rumours had surfaced the Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner was on the brink of backing off and would either opt to sit on his 28.8% stake or attempt to sell up.

Instead it seems Glazer was merely polishing the final details of a bid that is expected to be lodged with United, through their own financial advisors Cazenove, before the end of the week.

The pressure would then be on Red Devils chief executive David Gill and chairman Roy Gardner to decide whether to formally recommend the bid to shareholders.

Such a scenario seems unlikely given Gill called Glazer’s 300p-per-share offer ‘aggressive’ and ‘potentially damaging’.

However, with the threat of legal action hanging over the United board, it seems certain any formal offer will have to be put to the shareholders, effectively placing the club’s future in the hands of Irish racing tycoons John Magnier and JP McManus.

Between them, the duo own 28.9% of the club and without their support, Glazer has no chance of success.

But irate supporters, who have campaigned consistently against Glazer’s involvement, are not just prepared to sit back and cross their fingers.

They have already proved their effectiveness by holding mass demonstrations both at Old Trafford and in Manchester city centre.

And, dismissing talk of a £20m (€29.3m) summer transfer kitty for Sir Alex Ferguson as ‘a con’, the ‘Not For Sale Coalition’, comprising Shareholders United, the Independent Manchester United Supporters Association, and all United’s major fanzines, have begun planning their counter-offensive.

“On the day the bid is announced we want as many supporters as possible to make their way to Old Trafford from around 5pm,” said IMUSA spokesman Mark Longden.

“This talk of a £20m (€29.3m) sweetener is a total con. He is borrowing the money anyway, so it is the supporters who will have to pay that back.

“And as for more of the debt being in his name, once he bought Manchester United, it would be regarded as an asset just like his caravan parks in Florida. If he couldn’t pay back the money he owed, the club would be sold off just like everything else.”

Glazer will apparently guarantee Old Trafford will not be sold and leased back to pay off debts and will not be renamed without consultation with supporters’ groups.

Even the promise of ‘affordable’ ticket prices, an undertaking to act ‘in the best interests of the club’ and firm backing for Gill and manager Alex Ferguson will not be enough to sway the mass body of United support, who have threatened to launch a breakaway club if Glazer’s bid succeeds.

However, there are those, very much in a minority, who believe the American’s involvement at Old Trafford would be no bad thing, citing falling profits, successive early Champions League exits, a number of poor signings and the prospect of two third-placed Premiership finishes on the trot as evidence of a club stagnating.