Man City scandal shines light on Manchester United finances

When they restructured their debt in June, United added $125m (£94.36m) to their main debt. On 23 September, they said £63.5m had been spent on land for their proposed new stadium, the precise funding model for which is still to be determined.

Many fans, particularly those who do not want a new stadium, feel that money would have been better invested in Michael Carrick’s squad.

Yet, as Berrada said, United are taking a ‘disciplined approach’ on that.

In 2025, United had the fifth highest wage bill in the Premier League, at £313m. The absence of European football means that sum dropped to £302m in 2025-26. No other clubs have released their figures yet, but it would be a major surprise if United climbed any higher, meaning Carrick over-achieved by finishing third. United’s wages to turnover ratio is 45%. No club had a better figure than that last season.

While there are variables and also notable exceptions, including the Old Trafford outfit themselves who over the past decade, have topped the annual salary cost table but not the actual Premier League, and in 2024-25 finished 15th despite those fifth highest wage costs, there is a general correlation between salaries and performance.

Yet, while United were relatively restrained on the transfer front in terms of spending this summer – their £148m outlay was below that of newly-promoted Ipswich and Hull among others – their recent net spend has been high. The reason for this is clear.

When the most recent transfer window closed on 1 September, they had generated £47m from sales. It put them 11th in the Premier League. Only Liverpool of their ‘big six’ rivals brought in less.

Since they sold striker Romelu Lukaku to Inter Milan for £74m in 2019, United have only generated more than £25m for a player on four occasions – for Mason Greenwood, Scott McTominay, Rasmus Hojlund and Alejandro Garnacho.

It was instructive this summer a series of young players were sold, either for a lower fee than anticipated in the cases of Radek Vitek and Toby Collyer, who joined Middlesbrough and West Brom respectively, or none, like defenders Tyler Fredricson and James Overy. In all cases though, the transfers included significant sell-on and buy-back clauses, which is part of a strategy by United to generate more revenue from player sales.