Manchester United co-owners Ineos have managed to “punch themselves in the face” in their first year in control of operations at Old Trafford as new financial figures lay out the true scale of their financial issues.
The club recorded a loss of £27.7million in their second quarter financial results, partly driven by the £14.5m cost of sacking Erik ten Hag and Dan Ashworth, whose ill-fated spell as director of football lasted just three months.
The compensation Manchester United paid to Newcastle United for Ashworth was never publicly revealed but claims it was as high as £5m have proved inaccurate as the financials reveal the total cost of hiring and then firing the former director of football was £4.1m.
It still represents a costly mistake by Ineos, who went “all in” on Ashworth to lead a revamp of football operations only to be so underwhelmed by his decisions on recruitment and managerial change that he was fired.
As The i Paper revealed on Tuesday, United’s approach in the transfer market will undergo a “wholesale change” this summer as they wrestle with the challenges of buying players within the Premier League‘s Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR). They may have as little as £20m “PSR headroom” to operate in and have little cash reserves, making player trading essential to reshape Ruben Amorim‘s squad.
The Red Devils shelled out £11m to bring in Amorim and almost £250m in transfer fees but sit 15th in the Premier League and if that position doesn’t improve they could end up with a shortfall of between £30m and £40m in performance-related prize money.
The club have told supporter groups that the club is currently unsustainable and further cuts are necessary to stem costs. It’s understood they are currently in the final throws of deciding next year’s ticket prices, with supporter groups fearful that huge hikes are imminent.
Football finance experts say the new figures illustrate that it is under-performance on the field and a poor first year from Sir Jim Ratcliffe‘s Ineos group that is costing them.
Finance expert Kieran Maguire told The i Paper that while the underlying numbers show there are issues the fundamentals “aren’t that bad”. Instead it is debt on loans the club was saddled with as part of the Glazer family takeover and bad decisions that are undermining them.
“They’ve reported an EBITDA profit of £94million in the first six months and that’s a cash profit,” he told The i Paper.
“What’s it being spent on? A bunch of duds in the transfer market and interest costs. Those can be laid at the door of the Glazers but this was Ineos’ first summer in charge of the kitty and they’ve spent quarter of a billions of pounds.
“They say costs will come down but getting rid of Dave and Sandra in the ticket office who have worked there for 15-20 years and on £35,000 each. They’re not a problem, it’s player recruitment – in and out – that is the issue here.
“The spent a quarter of billion in 2024/25 so to start pleading poverty now after spending that is a bit disingenous. If they spent that money well they could be 10 places higher in the Premier League, looking at Champions League qualification and all the benefits of that.
“Ineos have managed to punch themselves in the face.”
The Manchester United Supporters’ Trust (MUST) said the results “lay bare the scale of the financial mismanagement” at Old Trafford, warning Ineos not to try and “plug gaps” in the club’s finances by raising ticket prices for the 2025/26 season.
Ineos have already sparked outrage by raising ticket prices to £66 and MUST spokesman Chris Rumfitt said the answer to United’s problems is not increasing the cost of going to Old Trafford.
“We’re resistent to the idea of them plugging the gaps with rising ticket prices. They’re currently finalising ticket prices for next season and we fear the worst,” he said.
“To make back the £37million of interest a year from the Glazer loans you’d have to add £25 on top of the price of every single ticket – and then you’d be playing in front of a half-empty stadium.
“They can’t fix this problem through ticket prices. Our great fear is that they might be about to try to.”
Rumfitt said that the first year under Ineos had been underwhelming, warning them against making decisions that would worsen the situation.
“The reality is it’s been over a year and in that year the situation has deteriorated,” he said.
“Some of that is historic problems. The debt is an inherited problem from the Glazer family, it’s what I call the original sin in the decline of Manchester United.
“That’s not on them but what is on them is how they’ve responded to it and at the moment they’re responding to it in the wrong way.
“We can’t cut our way out of the problem, we have to grow our way out of it.”
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