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The Red Knights group has shelved its plans to make a bid for Manchester United for the foreseeable future.

The consortium, made up of wealthy United fans and led by Goldman Sachs’ chief economist Jim O’Neill, had been expected to make a formal bid to buy the club from the Glazer family this summer.

However, the Glazers announced last week that they had no intention of selling and previous claims the American owners had already rejected a £1.5bn bid from a group in the Far East seem to have led to a belief among the Red Knights that there is little point making a substantially lower offer that was also certain to be rejected.

"The Red Knights remain committed to pursuing their efforts to try to help bring ownership of Manchester United to its supporters, and under a structure with materially less debt," said a statement released on behalf of the group on Wednesday (June 2).

"As we have maintained, however, since news of our ambitions first emerged in March, we will only attempt to purchase the club at a sensible price, consistent with the long-term interests of the club.

"Persistent speculation in the media of inflated valuation aspirations has made our goals less attainable, as potential investors have strongly reinforced our views that we should not move forward at a price uneconomic for the future of the club."

It effectively means the Red Knights will not move forward until they get an indication United would be sold for around £1bn – a sum they believe is realistic given current market conditions.

The news will come as a significant disappointment to fans opposed to the current owners and those who have mounted a campaign against them.

However, the likelihood is that the Manchester United Supporters Trust (MUST) will now call for a boycott of season tickets and other club merchandise in an effort to damage revenue streams and undermine the Glazers' business plan.

"We understand that many supporters were hoping that we might be in a position to make a bid before the season ticket renewal deadline," continued the Red Knights' statement.

"However, our approach is best served by long-term interests of all. We have never taken a stance on season ticket renewals – it is a personal choice for all supporters.

"We have spent some considerable time assessing the value of the club.

"If the fundamentals lead to a more realistic re-assessment then, along with our co-operation with MUST and other Manchester United supporters, we will aim to achieve our goals."