Man Utd announce RECORD revenues as Glazers make surprising call

Suraj Radia

• 26 Oct 2023 16:04 BST
• 4 min read

Manchester United’s wage bill dropped by more than £50 million last season, with the club announcing their annual finances which saw an overall loss of £42.1m despite record revenues of nearly £650m.

United saw their salary expenses drop to £331.4m – a 13.7% (£52.8m) decrease – largely due to the club not playing Champions League football in 2022/23, which led to wage cuts for the majority of the playing squad.

Despite the absence of Champions League income, the £648.4m revenue posted is a record high, with the club’s commercial income exceeding £300m for the first time and a new high in ticket sales and attendances.

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But the record highs could not stop United from declaring a £42.1m loss, in part due to the decrease in broadcast revenue from the lack of Champions League football, although the losses were still less than the previous year of £115.5m.

Perhaps crucially for United supporters, the Glazer family – who are in talks to sell 25% of the club to Sir Jim Ratcliffe – are not believed to have taken any dividends, although the club’s net debt still remains at £538m.

United have also projected their revenue to continue rising next year, potentially signifying why the Glazer family set an asking price of around £6 billion to make a total sale of the club and why Ratcliffe is set to invest more than £1.4bn in the coming weeks.

Glazers opt against dividends in rare switch-up

The accounts reflect the first year of Erik ten Hag’s tenure at Old Trafford, which saw United win the Carabao Cup, reach the FA Cup final and qualify for the Champions League.

Despite the increase in revenue and progress on the pitch, United were still operating under tight margins in the summer due to Financial Fair Play restrictions, although the club did spend around £180m on new players.

The outlay was in part due to the Glazer family reportedly opting against handing dividends to shareholders, something which they had previously done every year since 2015.

But having effectively put the club up for sale last November, the owners indicated that they would not take any payments in order to allow greater investment into the playing squad.

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The Glazer family appear to be set to remain at United for the indefinite future, with Ratcliffe to arrive as a minority shareholder once a deal is ratified, although he is understood to want a pathway towards a total ownership while also commanding control of the club’s footballing operations.

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