Revealed: Man United activate £100m clause
Man United have doubled the size of what is effectively the club’s overdraft, Football Insider analysis shows.
United’s annual accounts, which were released on Tuesday (21 February), show that the club actioned a £100million drawdown on a revolving credit facility on 3 October last year, taking the total drawdown to £200m.
United have the option to take go a further £100m into the overdraft facility, for which a flat interest rate has been agreed with a private lender.
The latest drawdown does not necessarily mean that the Red Devils will use the entirety of the additional £100m, merely that they have the option to do so.
Often, clubs will use a revolving credit facility to ease cash flow issues related to the inherent seasonality of football operations – season ticket sales and recruitment costs are weighted towards particular times of year, for example.
The Glazer family – who are excepted to have departed Old Trafford by the summer, with four bidders vying to take over the club – have historically relied on debt-based funding models during their United premiership.
In what could be the last full financial year overseen by the Glazers, United posted a £119m loss on turnover of £540m with the release of their accounts.
The 2021-22 campaign was the second successive year United have fallen behind rivals Man City in terms of annual turnover, although City’s accounts are to be scrutinised by an independent commission after the Premier League charged them with over 100 counts of financial impropriety.
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