Stefan Borson: This is how Man United plan to fill £30m hole in their accounts
Manchester United are planning to fill their £30million hole in lost European broadcast revenue by finishing higher in the Premier League table this season.
Ruben Amorim’s side finished 15th last season, while they have picked up seven points from their opening five games of the new campaign.
Man United have smashed their club-record revenue after publishing their 2024-25 accounts on 17 September, revealing their turnover increased from £661.8m to £666.5m.
That figure was boosted by Man United’s significant uplift in commercial revenue, which improved from £302.9m in 2023-24 to £333.3m last season.
The 20-time English champions’ broadcast revenue fell from £221.8m to £172.9m due to their lack of Champions League football, while matchday income at Old Trafford increased from £137.1m to £160.3m.
Man United could face £50m blow
Former Man City financial adviser Stefan Borson exclusively told Football Insider Man United are likely aiming to finish around sixth in the Premier League this season as they look to make up for the amount they have lost from not qualifying for Europe.
Man United lost to Tottenham in the final of the Europa League last season.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Borson said: “Another interesting thing, not just in terms of what they announced for last year but the guidance they’ve given for the current season is that they guided around the same sorts of levels for this season and that they were going to effectively make up for the loss of the Europa League money on the broadcast side by finishing higher in the league.
“As it happens without Uefa football, we’re now in a situation where at the start of the financial year Manchester United are in a very good position to forecast out the likely position next June because they have just really quite limited elements of the profit and loss that are subject to movement over the year because obviously Carabao Cup is now already out of the way, but FA Cup is never going to be an enormous money spinner either way, although clearly if you have lots of home games that helps.
“European football tends to be the big movement in a forecast for a club like United because there’s a big difference obviously between either not being in the competition at all or being in the competition, and the difference between going out early versus going out late.
“That can swing it £50m quite easily, and obviously they’ve got none of that this season. They will know with a good level of certainty aside from where they’re going to finish in the Premier League what the number is going to look like for the year.
“At the moment what they’re doing is forecasting around about fifth, sixth or seventh probably in the league. Their base case is probably sixth. That will give them nine higher places.
“That will give them the best part of the £30m of Europa League broadcast revenue that they’ve lost by not being in the Europa League this season, and so that will fill that gap.”
This is the first season Man United won’t be playing European football since the 2014-15 campaign.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s £300m plan revealed
Man United’s wage bill fell from £364.7m to £313.2m across the 2024-25 campaign.
Football Insider revealed on 10 July Ratcliffe is looking to reduce Man United’s wage bill to under £300m this season.
Amorim’s side spent more than £200m on the signings of Benjamin Sesko, Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha, Senne Lammens and Diego Leon in the recent summer transfer window.
However, they managed to get several top earners off the books, with 13 players leaving either permanently or on loan deals.
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