Sir Jim Ratcliffe suffers ‘big vote of no confidence’ after Man United debt reveal
Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Manchester United have just suffered a major vote of no confidence following a worrying debt reveal.
The Red Devils released their 2024-25 accounts on Friday (19 November), detailing their profit and loss throughout the campaign.
Man United did smash their club record revenue with their turnover increasing from £661.8million to £666.5m.
However, former Manchester City financial adviser Stefan Borson exclusively told Football Insider that Man United are in £1billion of debt, including the money they owe on transfers.
Everton’s former chief Keith Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – believes that there has been a loss of confidence in Ratcliffe and the United project as a result.
Man United suffer stock market blow
Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, Wyness revealed that Man United’s shares dropped by around 6.8 per cent following their accounting reveal last week.
Ratcliffe has tried to implement cost-cutting measures at Old Trafford, but has been heavily criticised for his approach.
However, Wyness added that the market is effectively telling United that they are not moving quickly enough in terms of addressing their debt.
He told Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast: “I had a good look at the accounts, but what was interesting was the immediate reaction of the stock market in the States.
“The shares dropped 8 per cent at the start of trading when those came out. They stablilised to a drop of about 6.8 per cent, but that is still a big drop. That’s a very big vote of no confidence in the numbers.
“You’d think it’s surprising because when you look at the numbers, there are some positive movements in some of the directions. But I think the thing that spooked everybody was the nearly £1bn of debt that is on the books. That’s something that is going to take some time to get sorted out.
“Yes, there was still a loss of £33m, and that’s still a reasonable number, but some of the things were moving in the right direction. I think the market’s basically telling them, look, you’re not moving quickly enough. You haven’t cut hard enough, and you haven’t got revenues up enough now.
“Of course, they also had a broadcast revenue drop of nearly £50m because they didn’t get into the Champions League and that’s where the real money is in terms of broadcast, so there are some worrying signs.”
Man United lose another £13m
Meanwhile, Man United are reportedly set to be around £13m down on matchday revenue after failing to qualify for Europe.
That is according to ex-Man City financial adviser Borson, who claims that the Red Devils are facing the repercussions of their poor 2024-25 campaign.
Last season, United’s broadcast revenue fell from £221.8m to £172.9m due to their lack of Champions League football.
That figure is set to fall again this term, with Ruben Amorim’s side missing out on European football altogether.
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