‘Man United are gaslighting fans after David Ornstein’s transfer claim’
Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has come under fire in recent months following his efforts to cut costs at Old Trafford.
The INEOS chief took over the Premier League side’s footballing operations in February 2024 after purchasing a 27.7 per cent stake for £1.25billion.
Ratcliffe has since increased his stake in Man United to 28.9 per cent after injecting £238million into the club.
The 72-year-old claimed last month the Manchester giants would have gone “bust by Christmas” if it wasn’t for his cost-cutting measures, which have seen hundreds of staff made redundant at Old Trafford.
Former Man City financial adviser Stefan Borson exclusively told Football Insider United have been “gaslighting” the fans about the reasons behind their cost-cutting measures.
Speaking on NBC on 23 April, The Athletic’s David Ornstein revealed United are prioritising deals for Matheus Cunha and Liam Delap this summer.
He added the finances are already in place to do those deals, and they don’t depend on the club qualifying for Europe or agreeing player sales despite their reported financial issues.
United posted a club-record revenue of £661.8million and a net loss of £113.2million in 2023-24, with top-flight clubs permitted to lose £105million over a rolling three-year period under the profit and sustainability rules (PSR).
Man United financial crisis debunked
Borson insisted United have never been in a financial crisis despite Ratcliffe’s claims.
He told Football Insider: “They are saying they can do deals without selling anybody, which is fine for this PSR year, but you do wonder how it all fits together with the overall position that they talked about in terms of the financial crisis that they’re in.
“I think the bottom line is they were never really in a financial crisis.
“They were in more a private-equity-style crisis, where the private-equity owner wanted to come in and make certain changes to the cost base and also generally wanted to put as little cash in as possible.
“They are both perfectly legitimate things to do in the outside world, but I think there’s an element of gaslighting the fans a little bit in terms of the reasons for what they were doing.
“I don’t think they’ve ever had a particular crisis. I don’t believe they were ever close to any kind of going bust by Christmas as Sir Jim Ratcliffe seemed to imply when he was doing his interviews.
“United are one of the most profitable clubs in the world even now, so they don’t have serious financial issues.
“They have more issues of owners and the amount that the owners want to put into the situation and, of course, they are still dealing with historic failures of transfers and that’s expensive.
“But as an operation, they still remain one of the most profitable clubs around.”
Man United could agree Andre Onana sale
Football Insider revealed on 22 April United are aware replacing under-pressure goalkeeper Andre Onana will put a “severe” dent in their summer transfer budget.
Ruben Amorim’s side are believed to be willing to listen to suitable offers for the 29-year-old, but they are not prioritising a change in the goalkeeper department.
| Appearances | 46 |
| Clean sheets | 10 |
| Goals conceded | 62 |
The Cameroon international has made several costly errors and was even dropped for Altay Bayindir in the 4-1 loss against Newcastle United earlier this month.
United currently sit 14th in the Premier League table following their disappointing campaign.
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