Tuesday summed up the contradictory state of play at Old Trafford, where Manchester United stand at a crossroads with significant uncertainty over their ownership.
A midday trading call revealed that United expect to record annual revenue of up to £640m this year, which is ahead of investor expectations and would represent a record for any Premier League club. That has been buoyed by record ticket sales for the 2022-23 season of 2.4m and record match-day revenue.
Some of that money will go towards a deal for Mason Mount if an agreement can be brokered on a fee. Chelsea and United officials are due to meet again at the end of the week after the Red Devils tabled a “final” £55m offer for the England international, who has one year left on his contract.
But all of this is taking place against the backdrop of uncertainty and discontent around the Glazer family, who are contemplating a sale but are dragging their feet over competing offers from Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos group and Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al Thani.
At the stadium, protesting fans from The 1958 group managed to shut the club megastore on the day United unveiled their new Adidas-designed home kit. Among the banners present were ones that called for a “full sale only” – a reference to the family considering proposals that include brothers Avram and Joel remaining at the club.
Unsurprisingly, there was no mention of the progress of the potential sale as the club set out their third quarter financial results.
“Despite global economic headwinds, we see strong tailwinds to the value of global TV rights of the Premier League and Uefa competition, and a competitive sponsorship market with many new market entrants looking to build and strengthen their brand through association with leading global sports brands such as ours,” CEO Richard Arnold told investors on an earnings call, as reported by Sportico.
The club intend to back Erik ten Hag in the transfer market but have financial fair play considerations to contend with.
i understands United’s transfer budget is expected to be about £120m, with any additional revenue being generated by sales.
About half of that amount has been put aside for a move for Mount, although a final bid lodged on Friday was rejected by Chelsea. Dialogue between the two clubs has dried up in recent days but the deal is far from dead.
The England international is keen on the move but will return to Chelsea for pre-season if no transfer is brokered. Deals are being worked on at the same time as the Glazer family ponders its next move.
i understands there is some frustration among both bidders at the length of time it is taking, with the Qatari group looking to clinch a deal in time to have an impact on the transfer window.
Whether that happens now or not is unclear. Sources close to that bid have played down speculation that exclusivity will be granted to their group imminently.
Football finance expert Kieran Maguire told i the accounts will not “move the dial” of the takeover and predicted that both Sheikh Jassim’s group and Ineos would have seen the results before they were announced.
“These financials are solid, the club has costs well under control, wages are now only half of total revenue which is a positive but the other overheads relating to transfer costs have been increasing because the club has invested more,” Maguire said.
They may also have to fund a new goalkeeper arrival, with David de Gea still yet to sign a new deal with the Red Devils and his contract due to expire in two days.
It was reported on Tuesday that he had been due to sign a new deal last week but the club revised their offer downwards, which may lead to his exit.
United are considering Andre Onana, of Inter Milan, and Brentford’s David Raya, who was interesting Tottenham before they signed Empoli’s Guglielmo Vicario.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/IBocLDu
Post a Comment