Manchester United have been one of the biggest spending clubs in the Premier League this summer.placeholder image
Manchester United have been one of the biggest spending clubs in the Premier League this summer. | Manchester United via Getty Imag
Manchester United have been one of the biggest spending clubs in the Premier League this summer despite their reported financial issues
Manchester United have confirmed the signing of highly-sought after striker Benjamin Sesko from RB Leipzig in a move worth an estimated £73.7m. The Slovenia international becomes the club’s third major arrival of the window so far following the arrivals of Matheus Cunha from Wolves and Bryan Mbeumo from Brentford.
It takes United’s overall spending to somewhere in the region of around £214m, making them the third biggest spenders in the Premier League while also giving them the highest net spend of any club in the top-flight due to their lack of player sales so far.
The Red Devils were naturally in need of radical reinforcements after a dismal 15th place finish and a failure to qualify for any form of European football last term. But it’s fair to say that the manner of their spending has come as something of a surprise to both United supporters and neutrals after Sir Jim Ratcliffe declared in March that the club could have gone bankrupt if it wasn’t for his cuts in late 2025. But just how have United been able to fund this summer’s extravagant rebuild? And are more signings on the way?
Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s comments revisited
In March 2025, Sir Jim Ratcliffe appeared on the Overlap wih former Red Devils icon and captain Gary Neville.
“Manchester United would have run out of money at the end of this year. November this year, the club runs out of cash,” he told a shocked Neville. “The alternative isn’t very tenable, is it? Which is the club goes bust at Christmas. We don’t want that. We don’t want that.We can’t put our head in the sand. We have to deal with the problem. And it’s a big problem, not a small problem.” added Ratcliffe when explaining his decision to make several members of staff redundant.
Speaking to the BBC on the same issue, Ratcliffe said: “Manchester United would have run out of cash by the end of this year - by the end of 2025 - after having me put $300m in and if we buy no new players in the summer. We are in the process of change and it's an uncomfortable period and disruptive and I do feel sympathy with the fans.The simple answer is the club runs out of money at Christmas if we don't do those things.”
How have Man Utd been able to fund their summer rebuild?
Football finance expert Kieran Maguire believes that a great deal of Manchester United’s financial problems were exaggerated heading into the transfer window. He explains that United were able to benefit from the prize money of reach the Europa League final last season, as well as the sale of academy products such as Mason Greenwood and Scott McTominay, which represented 100% profit from a PSR standpoint.
The Old Trafford club have also earned more than £15m in payments as part of sell-on clauses involving Anthony Elanga, Alvaro Carreras and Maxi Oyedele this summer. In addition, the entirety of Marcus Rashford's £325,000-a-week salary is being covered by his loan move to Barcelona. There’s also the £5m fee the club received from Chelsea pulling out of the deal to sign Jadon Sancho on a permanent.United could also still benefit from the sale of Sancho along with a number of wantaway stars such as Alejandro Garnacho amid speculation that he could be joining Chelsea.
"Some of the scare stories put about a few months ago were perhaps a bit overblown," Maguire said, via BBC Sport.
"Man Utd is not as successful as a business as they would like to be, but they are still successful. For example their wage bill is around half of their income, which is very good by Premier League standards. Man Utd can't spend as much as Liverpool and Chelsea. Of the 'big six', Man Utd are not in as good a position. But they are still in a good position. They have the biggest stadium, so the highest matchday revenues, and have one of highest commercial revenues. They are an attractive brand."
When it comes to incomings United are also funding their summer signings in a favourable way, with the payments to clubs being spread across a player’s contract to avoid any potential PSR breaches. United are still thought to be in a position where they can add more quality to their squad amid reports of interest in Carlos Baleba from Brightonalthough it’s suspected that they may need to up their game on player sales to help fund further signings before the end of the window.
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