With the January window open and Ruben Amorim outlining his transfer plans, Manchester United’s financial situation has now been revealed
Manchester United can spend £100million in the January transfer window without getting into financial difficulty, according to a football finance expert. With United pushing for Champions League qualification this season, a lot has been said about their need to bolster their ranks in the transfer market, which remains open until early February.
Head coach Ruben Amorim has already made it clear the club won’t bring in players unless there is ‘common ground’ with director of football Jason Wilcox about which players can improve the squad, admitting that the pair don’t always agree when it comes to new signings.
United already appear to have missed out on highly-rated winger Antoine Semenyo, who is set to join rivals Manchester City from Bournemouth. For the most part, the other players linked with the Old Trafford club have been midfielders, including the likes of Carlos Baleba, Elliot Anderson and Conor Gallagher.
Whether United are active in January will also be influenced by their financial situation. There has been plenty of talk about how much they are actually able to spend on new additions, given owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe‘s status as one of Britain’s richest men with an estimated net worth of £12billion.
However, Ratcliffe has painted the picture of a financial crisis at United since acquiring a minority stake in the club in February 2024, worsened by the absence of European football this season. During Ratcliffe’s short reign, United have axed hundreds of club employees and increased ticket prices in a bid to maintain the team’s competitiveness on the field by bankrolling significant spending on forwards last summer.
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But United also recorded the highest EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) profit of any Premier League club, along with the second highest revenues, in 2023-24.
Football finance expert Kieran Maguire insists they do not require any January sales to finance further transfers, saying they are “fine as they are” financially. He believes offloading players such as Kobbie Mainoo would only provide additional funds to decrease their overdraft debt, reported to stand at around £748million, while their transfer budget of around £100m this month would remain the same.
Maguire said: “I think the broader issue is they’ve not got cup money coming this year, they’ve not got European money. Old Trafford, you’re looking to make probably seven or eight million per match, because it’s very noticeable that since Ineos took over, the prices have gone up substantially.
“So they’re squeezing the fans, and I think that’s why the fans are probably a bit more demanding now than they were originally when Ineos came in, because they are being milked in order to provide the budget.
“Again, from an SCR point of view, which is the new rules which are kicking in, they’re spending around half their revenue on wages. So they’ve got huge capacity.
“It’s then a case of, can they spend the money? Well, yes, they’ve got a lot of debt but they’re still well within their overdraft limit. What Manchester United tend to do is to buy players on credit. So they owe £466m in outstanding transfer fees for players that they’ve signed in the past.
“I think that’s more of an issue for the summer of 2026 rather than January. If they spend £100m in January, they’ll be spreading that over three or four years. So from a cash point of view, it’s not really going to make a difference.
“If that’s the difference between Champions League and not Champions League, they’ve got to go for it if it’s going to improve the squad. Because a good run in the Champions League, you’ve got four home matches guaranteed, potentially another three. So you’ve got seven home matches.
“If you’re in the playoffs, that’s eight home matches. For Manchester United, you’re looking at £60m. That’s just from your ticket receipts.
“If you get to the quarters or semi-finals, you’ll make another £60m from TV money. And then your sponsors will be paying bonuses on top of that. So there’s no reason why Manchester United can’t make £150m if they get to the final.
“If they win it, that means they qualify for the Club World Cup in 2029. It’s worth £200m. But it’s Champions League or nothing. Europa League is okay for a club the size of Manchester United. The conference, certainly for the smaller clubs, they lose money in the conference.”
Based on this information, it would be wise for owners Ineos, the club hierarchy and Amorim to spend well on incoming players this January if it adds quality squad depth and aids their push for Champions League qualification for next season, given the greater financial benefits on offer.
Sky Sports discounted Premier League and EFL package
Sky has slashed the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle ahead of the 2025/26 season, saving members £192 and offering more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.
Sky will show at least 215 live Premier League games next season, an increase of up to 100 more.
