Man United Can Still Spend Big, Says Financial Expert

Manchester United’s struggle for European relevance hasn’t stopped them from moving aggressively in the transfer market.

Just days into the summer window, the club closed in on a £62.5m capture of Wolves’ Matheus Cunha. Now a £45m offer, plus £10m in add-ons, has gone in for Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo — a player who netted 20 Premier League goals last season.

This spending spree comes despite co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe warning in March of difficult financial realities, compounded by missing out on Champions League qualification after losing the Europa League final to Spurs. That defeat cost them over £70m in missed revenue.

Bruno Fernandes snubbed Al-Hilal’s advances despite a reported £80-100m price tag, and United trudged to a 15th-place league finish under boss Ruben Amorim, whose system seems misaligned with his current squad’s talents.

Yet financial expert Kieran Maguire insists United remain well within safe spending limits under profit and sustainability rules (PSR), which restrict club losses to £105m over three years.

“Even without European football they [United] could spend £150m without breaking into a sweat,” Maguire told BBC Sport.

He described portrayals of United’s finances as “exaggerated,” noting strong operational cashflow. He added critics are focusing on the wrong company.

“Everybody is looking at the New York company – Manchester United plc – but there is another company called Red Football which is owned by the Glazers and that is forming the basis of the PSR calculation.

“The losses at Red Football Ltd are far lower than they are at Manchester United plc.”

That’s why a £100m+ combined outlay on Cunha and Mbeumo wouldn’t immediately wreck their summer budget — accounting allows costs to be spread across the length of a player’s contract.

“When you bring in a new player you would normally put them on a four or five-year contract,” Maguire said. “If you sign someone for £150m it would cost them £30m next year plus the wages.”

And on sales, the real financial uplift lies in selling academy graduates.

“If a football club sells a player, normally the profit… is the difference between the sales price and the book value,” he explained.

But for academy talents — like Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho or Kobbie Mainoo — there is no purchase price to write off. That means any transfer fee is registered in full as profit.

“In the case of Manchester United… they are going to generate pure profit. It is far better [PSR-wise] than selling a player who has only been at the club a couple of years and who has underperformed.”

Should players such as Jadon Sancho, Antony, Tyrell Malacia, or goalkeepers Andre Onana and Altay Bayindir also leave, the club could increase flexibility to reinvest without breaching spending caps.

Despite the on-pitch gloom, the picture off it — at least from a balance sheet view — seems surprisingly stable.