Man Utd still over £1bn in debt after £63.5m stadium land purchase

Manchester United remain more than £1bn in debt despite reporting record revenues of £677.6m and a £22.6m operating profit, the club has confirmed. The club also disclosed it spent £63.5m on land for a new stadium as part of a summer refinancing move.

WHAT HAPPENED

United said net finance costs rose to £69.6m, up 228.3% year on year — a figure football finance expert Kieran Maguire says has now exceeded £1bn since the Glazer takeover in 2005. As part of a refinancing this summer an additional $125m (£94.14m) was added to historic debt; the club says £63.5m of that sum was used to buy land for the planned new stadium, and has not explained what happened to the remainder.

The club’s overall debt has fallen from £1.3bn at the end of December but remains over £1bn. The reported breakdown includes historic debt of £577.6m, £111.4m outstanding on its revolving credit facility, and outstanding transfer fees listed as £473m — club sources say approximately 75% of that figure is owed as ‘trade and other payables’.

KEY CONTEXT

United completed three summer signings — Carlos Baleba, Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans — at a combined cost of £148m. The club pointed to funds being earmarked for the stadium project, which the source material says is likely to cost in excess of £2bn. Supporters have expressed anger about perceived underinvestment in the first team this summer, and have criticised a lack of signings to provide depth at left-back and striking support for Benjamin Sesko.

The club also reported reductions in salary costs — down £11.3m to £302m — following two rounds of redundancies that led to 450 job losses. United said they saved £8.5m of a projected £16.5m pay-off relating to axed boss Ruben Amorim after he accepted a job at AC Milan.

Additional notes from the club include criticism of investment levels in the Women’s Super League squad, which is second bottom with one point from three games, and a club statement from chief executive Omar Berrada: "We are pleased to have secured record revenues," adding that the results "confirm that we are on the right trajectory" and that the club will "continue to take a disciplined approach to ensure our finances remain sustainable."

WHY IT MATTERS

The figures show United generating strong revenue and an operating profit despite a season without European competition, yet substantial historic liabilities and high finance costs mean the club remains heavily indebted while funds have been allocated to the stadium project rather than further first-team spending this summer.