Manchester United have made savings across the board, which led to an operational profit in the second quarter of their financial results, coming as a huge boost to the club’s health off the pitch.
After plenty of question marks over the club’s financial strength, Manchester United have revealed they have managed to shed £14million from their wage bill, compared to last year, as per their recent second-quarter financial results.
It came after a busy summer transfer window, which has seen some of the squad’s highest earners move on to help stabilise themselves financially.
With a lack of European football after a dismal campaign last time out under Ruben Amorim, there were concerns over investment, due to the lack of broadcasting revenue and prize money that a competition like the Champions League can provide the club.
As a result, a clear-out of the squad was underway, as players such as Marcus Rashford, Rasmus Hojlund, and Andre Onana were sent out on loan to help ease the wage bill, while giving them places to play, as they were seemingly deemed surplus to requirements for the head coach at the time.
There were permanent exits for Alejandro Garnacho and Antony, which further helped the bank balance before the club went into the market for options to bolster the squad moving forward.
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Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo, Benjamin Sesko, and Senne Lammens all moved to Old Trafford, but even with those high-profile arrivals, the wage bill still fell to £75.1million for the three months ending December 31.
That represents a nine per cent decrease on the previous year, while the wages to revenue ratio sits at a healthy 45%; for every £1 the club bring in, only 45p is spent on wages, which is one of the lowest in the Premier League.
It has helped to justify moving on the likes of Rashford – who was a huge earner – and Garnacho. The pair fell out of favour under Amorim and seemingly didn’t have a future at United, with the club now able to invest from a stronger position.
It remains to be seen what that means for United in the summer, given their transfer spend in the summer, but that could all depend on the job Michael Carrick can do.
A return to the Champions League would represent a huge potential boost to revenue, with the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City landing roughly upwards of £90million from the league phase alone across all revenue streams – while Tottenham picked up just over £80million, and Newcastle landed in the £50million region.
That could unlock extra money for United to strengthen in the summer again, having just posted operating profits of £32.6million in their latest accounts.
While that is a possibility, the strategy over those transfers will largely depend on which head coach the hierarchy lands on for the role, and there is a long way to go until that is all made clear.
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