Kieran Maguire: Man United fans will be ‘upset’ at £120m Ratcliffe move
Man United fans will be disappointed that £120million of Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s investment fund was used to pay off debt.
That is the view of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who exclusively told Football Insider that United fans will want to see Ratcliffe’s investment used to improve on-pitch performances or off-pitch facilities.
As revealed by Football Insider, £120million of Ratcliffe’s initial investment was used as repayment into the group’s revolving facilities.
United published their Q2 results last week with revenue of £225million and projected revenue of over £650million for the year.
The documents confirmed Ratcliffe’s takeover and revealed that his initial investment – which was reportedly put aside for infrastructure investment – has been used to repay debt.
Ratcliffe will disappoint Man United fans with £120m news
Maguire believes fans will be disappointed that Ratcliffe’s investment was not used to improve the playing squad.
“Every little help, but if Jim Ratcliffe’s £120million investment has been used to simply repay a chunk of the debt, I suspect many Manchester United fans will be disappointed,” Maguire told Football Insider’s Sean Fisher.
“The club only spent £389,000 in the January window and they already owe well over £350million in instalments to other clubs in payments.
“That is on top of the significant amounts of debt in terms of loans and overdrafts.
“So, the money from Ratcliffe won’t really touch the sides.
“It will help to reduce the interest burden on the overdraft, but that’s about as far as things go.
“If money from Jim Ratcliffe is simply just going to be used as a form of debt reduction rather than increasing the product on the pitch and the facilities off the pitch then fans will be upset.“
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