November 27 – Since becoming Manchester United minority shareholder, Sir Jim Ratcliffe (pictured), has been wielding a heavy scythe. In July he released 250 employees in a decision related to cutting costs.
A statement in the first quarter’s accounts just filed, said: “Exceptional items (redundancies) for the quarter were a cost of £8.6 million. This comprises costs incurred in relation to the restructuring of the Group’s operations, including the redundancy scheme implemented in the first quarter of financial year 2025. Exceptional items in the prior year quarter were £nil.”
According to the quarterly accounts filing United’s total debt is now £714 million due to non-current borrowings of £481.7 million and current borrowings of £232.3 million.
The club, without any Champions League football this season, said it made an operating loss of £6.9 million for the first quarter of the 2024-25 financial year.
United spent heavily in the summer with an outlay of £205 million on Joshua Zirkzee, Leny Yoro, Matthijs de Ligt, Noussair Mazraoui, with £50 million Uruguayan, Manuel Ugarte, representing a sizeable proportion of that spend.
The club are also set to face a hefty financial burden following the recent dismissal of head coach Erik Ten Hag. Reports indicate that the club will owe the Dutch manager a severance package estimated at around £16 million ($19.4 million) – Ten Hag had spent more than £600 million on transfers during his time at the club.
His replacement, Ruben Amorim, hasn’t come cheap either. It was initially reported that the club agreed to pay the €10 million exit clause for Amorim, with the Portuguese manager already expressing his commitment to United’s proposal and vision, however, after the move was confirmed by United on November 1, Sporting CP issued a statement outlining the overall cost that was required for them to part with their head coach.
United have paid €11 million to secure Amorim’s release from Sporting, along with an additional €1.66 million in “intermediation commissions” related to the 39-year-old not having to work his full reported 30-day notice period.
Contact the writer of this story, Nick Webster, at moc.l1735241549labto1735241549ofdlr1735241549owedi1735241549sni@o1735241549fni1735241549