After Manchester United signing Cesco, the club's transfer expenditure this summer reached 214 million pounds. The Telegraph published an article analyzing why Manchester United can still sign large numbers of players and continue to sign people...
After Manchester United signing Cesco, the club's transfer expenditure this summer reached 214 million pounds. The Telegraph published an article analyzing why Manchester United can still sign large numbers of players and continue to sign people despite financial difficulties.
Slashing spending obviously reduces the club's operating costs and gives Manchester United more room to operate under Premier League financial rules. Manchester United has laid off 450 employees and reviewed each expenditure, saving tens of millions of pounds, and the impact has also been reflected in the club's recent financial reports. As of March 31, Manchester United recorded operating profit of about 1 million pounds, compared with a loss of 66.2 million pounds in the same period last year. The wage bill also fell sharply by 21%, with quarterly wages falling to 71.2 million pounds. The total salary this season is expected to be about 80 million pounds lower than the 2023-24 season (at the time Manchester United had the Champions League), which to some extent alleviates the impact of not having European qualifications in the next 12 months.
So, are these factors enough to support Manchester United in such a large-scale spending? Not exactly that, there are other factors. In addition to the flexibility of PSR (Profitability and Sustainability Rules), the club also needs to have enough cash to spend. Rashford's loan to Barcelona saved Manchester United at least £12.75 million in salary, not including the salary he saved when he loaned Villa in January, when Anthony and Maracia also left the team on loan. Although Manchester United has not sold any players this summer, their cash flow has received a £15.7 million second-transfer share due to the transfers of Ilanga, AF and Oyedler. In addition, Chelsea paid Manchester United a penalty of 5 million pounds for not buying out Sancho, which covered about half of the player's salary this season.
Although this round of high-priced purchases requires Manchester United to repay more transfer fees, paying Cunya's transfer fees in three phases and paying Mbemo's transfer fees in four phases has given them more room for operation. By the end of March 2026, Manchester United's net transfer fee debt will reach 175.5 million pounds. Looking back at the past few transfer windows, excluding agent fees and other related costs, Manchester United spent 204 million pounds to bring in players last summer, spent 179 million pounds in the summer of 2023, while Tenghach's first summer window spent 227 million pounds in the first summer window after taking office. But unlike Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea, these three teams have earned huge revenues by selling players, thus significantly reducing net spending, while Manchester United has never sold a good price in selling people.
Therefore, Manchester United is also borrowing and as of the end of April, it has withdrawn about £160 million from its three revolving credit lines, with the total of about £300 million. A month ago, the figure was 212.3 million pounds, and more quotas were obtained after repaying 50 million pounds. As of March 31, the club's cash balance was 73.2 million pounds. Now, Amorin hopes to sign another defensive midfielder and goalkeeper before the transfer window is closed. Manchester United has already understood the potential costs required to sign Brighton midfielder Baleba and is interested in Donnarumma, but it is not clear whether they will continue to pay attention, but any further signings will depend on whether United can sell players.
