Manchester bank advises on bid

Rothschild was retained by the Glazer family at the end of December to advise it on its options and contact is understood to have been made between the investment bank and Cazenove, United's advisers.

Rothschild was retained by the Glazer family at the end of December to advise it on its options and contact is understood to have been made between the investment bank and Cazenove, United's advisers.

However, it is thought unlikely that Rothschild would be directly involved in providing the finance to enable the Glazers to mount a fresh bid for the club.

A source close to Rothschild said: "The bank has been helping Glazer review his options and that work is ongoing but fundraising is not their style."

Rothschild is not releasing the names of the directors involved in advising Glazer for fear that they will be targeted by Manchester United fans in the way that his previous advisers were.

Although the bank is now based in the City of London, its original headquarters were in Manchester and it still has an office there. Nathan Rothschild, the founder of the bank, set himself up in Manchester when he arrived in England from Germany in 1897 because it was the centre of the cotton trade.

Last year, Rothschild was the UK's number one investment bank adviser on mergers and takeovers, both by number and value.

However, it does not have any track record in advising on football takeovers. Its only recent involvement was providing Arsenal with some help on project financing.