This has become my favorite thread.
Each day I grab some popcorn and catch up on Cafe members share their ill-informed opinions represented as fact. It's actually kind of sad that watching pipe fitters and office workers and doctors, et al. argue about corporate finance transactions and mergers & acquisitions is so enjoyable.
I've been a corporate attorney for 30 years. I've worked at BigLaw, have been a general counsel on Wall Street for more than a decade and have run at least a dozen billion USD deals and I can tell you that, in my opinion, none of us have the slightest idea what is going on. How the winning bid will be structured and how the debt (if any) will be serviced is total and utter speculation. There are some arguments that have merit (e.g., not all debt is bad) and others that are simply hilarious.
Just the other day, 2 brothers you've probably never heard of acquired a NBA franchise (Phoenix Suns) for $4bn. I believe that the NBA has a leverage limit of $275m per team. So it seems to me that it is very possible for non-state actors to meet the Glazers' asking price without incurring debt. Whether any of the current bidders plan on doing so is wholly unknown and any statement to the contrary is simply speculation.
TL;DR please keep these arguments coming, they're fascinating. Definitely keep telling another poster that they are wrong when they speculate and state opinion as fact and then explain to them how you're right when you have absolutely no information other than what's been speculated in the press.