Manchester United: saying you’re making a lot of money while saying you’re almost broke?

Many soccer fans perk up their ears when the name Manchester United is mentioned.This club is not only one of the most famous teams in England, but also one of the most popular sports brands worldwide.In recent years, however, things don’t seem to be going well for Manchester United.Although they claim to be making a lot of money, on the other hand, there are frequent rumors of “possible bankruptcy”.This has left many people confused: what’s going on?How can a club make money and at the same time say that they can’t hold on?

Let’s talk about this today and find out what Manchester United are going through and why they are in this strange situation of “making money and losing money at the same time”.

Ratcliffe’s arrival at Man Utd: Fans thought they had hope

It’s Christmas Eve 2023.On that day, British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe announced that he would buy part of the shares of Manchester United.When this news came out, many Manchester United fans breathed a sigh of relief.After all, it’s true that United has had a tough time these past few years.

Ratcliffe himself is a native of Manchester and has been a big fan of Manchester United since he was a child.He is not only rich, and has an industrial background, not the kind of only rely on stock speculation to make a fortune “layman”.So when he bought part of the shares of Manchester United, many fans thought: “This time we can finally turn around!”

At that time, some people even started to sell hats with “MUGA” (meaning “Manchester United Great Again”) printed on them, meaning they hoped that Manchester United would become strong again.Others optimistically predicted that United would soon beat Manchester City in the FA Cup final and be on the road to recovery.

But the reality was not as rosy as everyone thought.It didn’t take long for Manchester United to begin a series of unintelligible maneuvers.

Layoffs, pay cuts, elimination of benefits: fans began to be dissatisfied

Shortly after Ratcliffe took over, there were rumors of layoffs at United.At first it was just gossip, but later the club officially confirmed it – it was real layoffs.

Not only that, but staff benefits were also cut.For example, some employees used to be able to work from home, but now they can’t; and some older employees were fired or forced to accept pay cuts.These changes have made many fans very angry.

It is important to realize that Manchester United has built up a lot of resentment in the hearts of its fans over the years.In particular, the Glazer family (the American capital that controlled United before) has been scolded a lot.Fans feel that they are “vampires” who only know how to make money from the club, regardless of the team’s performance and the feelings of the fans.

When Ratcliffe came in, everyone thought he would bring change.However, he also started to cut staff and salaries, even more than the Glazer family did.So fans began to question: does this new boss really want to save Manchester United or not?

Is Manchester United really out of money?Or is it deliberately creating a crisis?

In the face of external questions, Manchester United explained that all of this is to “control costs”, “to maintain financial health”.They also emphasized that as one of the biggest clubs in the Premier League, United’s operating costs are already very high.

For example, United has the largest home stadium in the Premier League – Old Trafford.It costs a fortune just to maintain this venue.Add to that the fact that they have their own TV network and a huge marketing team, and these are the big expenses.

Plus, because United is a company registered in the Cayman Islands and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in the United States, it has to comply with a lot of complicated international regulations, which also means higher compliance costs.

But then again, if that’s the case, then why can United still claim to be making a profit?

Is it true that Manchester United say they make a lot of money?

At the end of November 2024, Manchester United released a financial forecast report.This report showed that United’s earnings before tax, interest, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for the fiscal year ending in June 2025 was expected to be between £145 million and £160 million.This figure is considerably higher than the previous year.

At the same time, United expects total revenue for the year to reach £650 million to £670 million, mainly from commercial sponsorships, broadcasting income and matchday tickets.It does seem to be “making a lot of money”.

And United’s wage bill is well under control.Out of every 100 pounds of revenue, only 55 pounds are used to pay staff wages, a ratio that ranks third in the Premier League and is well below the 70-pound warning line recommended by UEFA.

Judging from these figures, it seems that Manchester United are not so “poor” as to go bankrupt.So why the frequent layoffs, benefit cuts and ticket price hikes?

Making money while being poor: Isn’t that a contradiction?

The point is that the word “profit” is used in many ways.

If you ask an accountant, “Is this company making a profit or not?”He would probably look around and then lower his voice and say, “What kind of profit do you want to see?”

Why would he say that?Because companies can present different financial positions through different accounting methods.For example, some expenses can be spread over future years, some losses can be deferred, and some projects can be counted as investments rather than expenses.

This leads to a strange phenomenon: a company that looks profitable on some books may show huge losses on others.

Such is the case with Manchester United.They say in one report that they are “growing profits” but in another report they say that they have “three years of cumulative losses in excess of £300 million”, which, if nothing is done about it, would be a breach of the Premier League’s Financial Rules (PSR), also known as the“Profitability and Sustainability Rules”.

This rule states that Premier League clubs can only lose a maximum of £105 million over a three-year period.If they exceed this figure, they could face penalties such as fines, transfer bans, and even points deductions.

So Manchester United must find a way to control their losses or face serious consequences.

Too much money spent on player transfers with little return

Manchester United have invested heavily in player transfers over the years.Since Ferguson’s retirement, they’ve splashed over £2.1 billion on the transfer market.This amount is at the top of the Premier League.

But has all this money really brought good results?The answer is no.

Many of the players United have bought in the past few years have not been very successful, and some have even become “water goods”.What’s worse, their ability to sell players is also poor.Figures show that since the end of the Ferguson era, United have only been able to recoup an average of £200,000 per player sale, while Chelsea have made an average of £1 million per player sale.

What does this mean?It means that not only do United have to spend a lot of money on buying players, they also struggle to make up for their losses by selling them.This is a big burden on the club’s finances.

In addition, Manchester United are now carrying a transfer debt of £414 million.This is because many players are now bought in installments, which is equivalent to a loan.This debt is second only to Chelsea in the Premier League.

The pressure to pay back interest on this debt every year is enormous.And these transfer fees are highly prioritized, meaning that even if the club is short of money in other areas, this must be paid off first.

Frequent changes in management and spending money like water

Aside from the transfer failures, United have also made frequent management changes in recent years, which has led to a lot of wasted money.

As an example, United poached sporting director Dan Ashworth from Newcastle in 2024, paying a hefty transfer fee to do so.As a result, the man was sacked after only five months in the job, and the club had to pay another termination fee.

Similarly, coach Ten Hagar originally signed a contract extension but was sacked a few months later for a whopping £10.4 million in compensation.Then the club brought in new coach Amorim and his entire coaching staff from Porto for £11 million.

In just a few months, United have spent tens of millions of pounds on personnel changes.These are not small sums of money, and have certainly added to the problems of an already poor club.

And the blame behind these decisions has been pointed by many at Ineos, the company owned by Ratcliffe.Some say that much of the mess United are in right now is due to poor decision-making by Ineos.

The Glazers are gone, but the impact is still there

Although Ratcliffe has taken a stake in United, the previous Glazer family still has a profound impact on the club.

The Glazer family used a large number of loans when they first bought United, and those debts have yet to be paid off.Every year United need to come up with around £20 million to pay off this debt.

Also, the Glazer family made a huge amount of money from the sale of their shares to Ratcliffe.The costs of these deals ended up being borne by United.For example, there was an outlay of up to £34.6 million to complete this share transfer.

In other words, although the Glazer family has “gotten out of the way”, the debt and management chaos they left behind is still dragging down United’s development.

Manchester United layoffs, is it really to survive?

The United team has been in the midst of a series of layoffs, but they are still in the midst of a series of cuts.Many people feel that it doesn’t make logical sense for Manchester United to say that they are making a lot of money while at the same time massively laying off staff.

But if we analyze it carefully, we can actually understand some of the considerations.

First of all, Manchester United does have some cash flow accumulated over a long period of time, which means that they still have a little bit of “spare food” in their hands.But that doesn’t mean they can squander it indefinitely.Especially in a league as competitive as the Premier League, any financial mistake could lead to a chain reaction.

Secondly, layoffs aren’t just about “saving money”, they’re also sometimes a signal.It sends a message to the outside world that clubs are taking tough measures to reform and are willing to make sacrifices in exchange for future stability.

But then again, if it’s just about saving money, Manchester United could have chosen other methods, such as reducing some unnecessary marketing costs or optimizing the management structure, rather than having to take the “knife” of ordinary employees.

Conclusion: What is the future of Manchester United?

Overall, Manchester United is at a very awkward stage: they have the ability to make money, but they are constantly losing money; they claim to be financially sound on one hand, but on the other hand, they frequently make baffling decisions.

Behind all this is actually the result of the intertwining of many factors such as capital operation, corporate management and professional soccer economy.

For fans, their main concern is of course the team’s performance and future direction.However, without a clear and stable management team and a reasonable financial planning, I am afraid it is difficult for Manchester United to really get out of the predicament.

Ratcliffe’s arrival was once seen as a “savior”, but his current performance has disappointed many.Maybe he needs more time to prove himself, or maybe United still need to go through a period of pain to usher in a real turnaround.

Either way, the United story is not over yet.Let’s wait and see what happens next.