Manchester United owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has now used Everton as an example in an argument over the club’s finances.
Everton’s much-improved Premier League has seen the Toffees pile the pressure on Man United in the table.
It has not been the season that either club would have been hoping for over the summer, but David Moyes has the Blues trending in a much better direction.
Now, almost two months into the 61-year-old’s tenure, Everton are eight games unbeaten in the Premier League for the first time in seven years.
Only one point separates Everton and Man United in the league table.
And it seems Ratcliffe feels there is also not a lot separating the two sides off the pitch in his latest argument over the finances at Old Trafford.
Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images
Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images
Sir Jim Ratcliffe makes Everton and Manchester United comparison
Ruben Amorim was wowed by Everton’s atmosphere when the two sides met late last month.
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The two sides could not be separated after 90 minutes, and it seems the United owner feels there are some similarities off the pitch, too.
Speaking on The Overlap, Ratcliffe has suggested Amorim’s actual options at Old Trafford will have a similar wage bill to that of Everton.
“If I look at the salary bill of the squad that’s available to him [Ruben Amorim], that salary bill is not the salary bill of Manchester City or Liverpool,” Ratcliffe said.
“It’s a fraction of it. If you look at the salary bill of the players available to him that aren’t injured or aren’t out on loan; we’ve got Antony out on loan, we’ve got Sancho out on loan, we’ve got Rashford out on loan, we’ve got Mason Mount who hasn’t really played in the last two seasons, we’ve got Luke Shaw who hasn’t played in the last two seasons.
“So if you modify our salary bill for the players available to Ruben, our salary bill ranks us in the middle-second half of the table with the likes of a Nottingham Forest or an Everton; not a Manchester City.”
Ratcliffe has complained about United heading towards running out of money, but it is Everton who have suffered from PSR recently between the two clubs.
United spent considerably last summer and are worse off on the pitch, which is something which the Friedkins will surely be looking at as an example of how not to run their club.
Manchester United’s wage bill dwarfs Everton’s 2024/25
These two sides could not be much further apart in terms of the PR surrounding each club currently.
Moyes has shocked a lot of people at Everton, with the Toffees showing a huge improvement since moving on from Sean Dyche.
With United, the Red Devils look like a club with a lot of issues both on and off the pitch.
However, comparing their wage bill with Everton’s seems a huge reach from Ratcliffe.
2024/25 Manchester United Everton
Premier League rank 3rd 10th
Per week £3.29m £1.39m
Per year £171.4m £72.4m
Source: Capology
And even if he is to make the argument that some of United’s big earners are not at Amorim’s disposal, that does not take into consideration the huge amount of money they spent last summer.
In addition, it has to be remembered that Moyes is also without some of his top earners through injury on Merseyside.
Considering how the Friedkins have started off, it goes to show just how fortunate Everton may have been to avoid an owner like Ratcliffe.