BREAKING NEWS:Man United make official £624m announcement as Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s ‘masterplan’ takes shape ahead of January window
Manchester United have released their latest fiscal results for the first quarter ending September 30, 2025, and there are some interesting ramifications for Ruben Amorim’s side.
It is no secret that the Glazers mismanaged the finances of the club almost irreparably before they invited Ineos, and no money from the sale went into the club.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe personally invested his money into the club after buying a share of the club, and since then, embarked on a ruthless mission to save costs
After more than 18 months at the helm of Old Trafford, those measures are starting to bear fruit. Here are the ramifications for Ruben Amorim’s side, as explained by GRV Media’s Head of Football Finance and Governance, Adam Williams.
Man Utd’s latest financial results explained
Before delving into details, here is a quick rundown of the key points from the financial results –
Man Utd owe £624.1 million in pending amortisation fees
Total revenue is down (140.3m from 143.1m), but adjusted EBITDA is up (26.9m from 23.7m)
Employee benefit expenses down 8.2% over prior year quarter as redundancies effect clear
Broadcasting revenue down 4.5% over prior year quarter as no Europe effect is clear
New e-commerce model by Ineos drives 11% growth over prior year quarter
Cost-cutting became a theme of Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s reign at Man Utd, and while that didn’t always happen with the sensitivity it needed, the core Ineos blueprint was followed.
They have always walked into a business, streamlined the operations, put a structure in place, and wait as their actions start to bear fruit.
In Man Utd’s latest financial results, the actions are starting to bear fruit because, as Williams explains to United in Focus, the “masterplan” is starting to take shape.
This is despite the club announcing that they owe £624.1 million in pending amortisation fees, which means payment for the players who are already here but whose fees have been stretched over the length of their contract.
Williams explains: “Wages are down, which is partly due to the mass redundancies and partly due to step-down clauses in player contracts because of no European football this season. They managed to more or less maintain their matchday and commercial income despite no European football.
They have increased prices at Old Trafford, which the Glazers didn’t do for a very, very long time, and they are moving to a new commercial model, which they hope can arrest the stasis they have been in for a few years. If you adjust for inflation, Man United’s commercial income has gone backwards over the last decade or so when other clubs have doubled or tripled theirs.
At the same time, amortisation – which is how football clubs account for transfer fees over a player’s contract length – is rising. They are burning cash too, with the balance decreasing from £150m to £81m in this set of results. They’ve also drawn down about £105m on their revolving credit facility, which is essentially an overdraft.
“I think Ratcliffe will be quite comfortable with these results when he zooms out on the graph. They are going to lose money again this year, but if the Q1 trajectory continues, then the shortfall will probably be lower than I and quite a few others were expecting.
“There’s nothing here that would stop them from spending in January, if that’s the plan. In the long term, I’d suggest that these financials are emblematic of the Ratcliffe masterplan – continue ruthlessly optimising costs, increase core revenue, and get United winning again by brute force in the transfer and wage markets.”
Ruben Amorim and Ineos need a virtuous cycle
Ultimately, what can be learned from these financial results is that steps taken by Ineos have helped, but the biggest help they can give the club is outside their control.
