If Manchester United are to emerge at the right end of a congested Premier League mid-table, they need to strengthen in the January transfer window.
As Gary Neville observed at the start of the month, many of United’s peer group have been remarkably unremarkable this term. If they can get their act together, there is room for the Red Devils to come through the pack.
If Ruben Amorim gets the players he wants in January and next summer – it will be a true test of whether his team can really get the Theatre of Dreams rocking.
Ruben Amorim head shot image outside Old Trafford.
Photo by Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images
But can United afford to do business in the winter window, where clubs are famously held to ransom?
Yes, January is the month that gave us Bruno Fernandes, Nemanja Vidic and Andy Cole, but also Alexis Sanchez.
And, as Sir Jim Ratcliffe has been at pains to remind us, the club is not in the best shape financially.
Here, United in Focus takes a look at how much United are allowed to spend, how much investment Ratcliffe is actually likely to sanction, and the recruitment and retention strategy that Ineos thinks can bring glory back to Old Trafford.
PSR – How much are Man United allowed to spend this January?
Under PSR, or Profit and Sustainability Rules, to give them their full title, the Premier League permits United to lose no more than £105m over a rolling three-season period, with certain expenses exempt from the calculation.
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But unless they work for the Premier League or the club’s own accounting department, anyone who tells you exactly what Man United can spend under PSR this January is lying.
However, we do know that the club is comfortably under the domestic rules, with plenty of headroom despite having not posted a profit since the 2018-19 season, with the losses in that period stacking up to about £407m.
Chart for United in Focus showing Manchester United's profit and loss account over the years
Man United profit and loss Credit: Adam Williams/United in Focus/GRV Media
However, across 2023-24 and 2024-25 – the two seasons which, as well as 2025-26 – make up the current PSR assessment window, the shortfall has been more modest.
United submit their PSR position for review by the Premier League using the accounts of Red Football Limited, the UK-registered company whose losses in 2023-24 were about £29m and are expected to be somewhere similar once the 2024-25 accounts are released in the spring.
After adding back allowable expenses like investment in infrastructure, the women’s team and youth development, United were probably somewhere around a break-even point from a PSR perspective going into 2025-26.
That means they can probably lose in the region of £150m including allowable expenses this season before they have to worry about PSR. And even then, Chelsea, Aston Villa and Everton have exposed the loopholes that Ratcliffe’s lawyers and accountants could take advantage of if they felt they were headed for a breach.
So, PSR won’t stop United spending this January.
While amortisation (which is how clubs account for transfers over a player’s contract length) and baseline player wages will be up on last season, other operating costs are down and, even without European football, United will be able to comfortably get within the £105m threshold.
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Photo by TOLGA AKMEN/AFP via Getty Images
What about SCR, the Premier League’s new spending rules?
January will be the last transfer window United spend under the yoke of PSR.
The Red Devils were part of a two-thirds majority of clubs to introduce a new Squad Cost Ratio (SCR) system at the latest Premier League shareholders’ meeting in late November.
The new rules, which are similar but more lenient than the SCR rules that apply at UEFA level, limit clubs to spending 85 per cent of revenue plus three-year average player sale profits on first-team wages and transfers. There are then financial penalties up to 115 per cent, with points deductions dished out to clubs who exceed that threshold.
The new system arguably favours clubs like United, who have a dizzyingly high revenue ceiling.
Chart showing recorded revenue and projections for Manchester United, with United in Focus logo
Man United revenue projections Credit: Adam Williams/United in Focus/GRV Media
What’s more, interest and other finance costs are not part of the formula. Given that United are spending £20m-plus annually on servicing the Glazers’ debt, that’s good news.
But SCR will be largely immaterial for United anyway. Instead, it is more likely to impact their competitors in the Premier League’s burgeoning middle class.
In any case, while United are not subject to UEFA’s rules this season, they ultimately are likely to be in European competition more seasons than not, so they are already looking to comply with UEFA’s 70 per cent SCR, which should make compliance with the Premier League equivalent a formality.
Based on the 2024-25 accounts, United have relevant revenue and player sales of £702m, giving them a cap under UEFA’s rules of about £491.4m.
Assuming 75 per cent of the total wage bill is paid to the manager and first-team players, their actual SCR spend was approximately £428m, so they would have plenty of headroom. That’s just an illustrative example, but it gives a flavour of the grace they have under the new rules.
Long story short: United could very comfortably spend £150-200m and increase the wage bill by £30-40m this January before worrying about the spending rules.
Cash flow – how much actual money is available for United to spend?
When Ratcliffe said that United would have ‘run out of cash by Christmas’, it was a half-truth.
Yes, if United had no external funding then they wouldn’t be able to make it through a full season by subsisting on their own revenues.
However, what the British billionaire failed to mention is that this is the case for almost every team in the Premier League, who all rely on owner funding or another form of external financing to survive.
United’s case is particularly pronounced, though. And since he bought 25 per cent of the club in February 2024, Ratcliffe has made every effort to squeeze revenue and optimise costs.
That has been achieved at the expense of hundreds of people who lost their jobs in his sweeping programme of cuts, as well as a down-sizing of day-to-day expenses and increased commercial and matchday income.
Was Sir Jim Ratcliffe out of order to fire so many staff members?
Or were mass job cuts a brutal necessity to save money?
Chart depicting the number of staff employed by Manchester United over time
Manchester United employees Credit: Adam Williams / GRV Media / United in Focus
👇 Join the debate; share your insight. Use the comment button on the bottom left to have your say
But even with those cuts, United ran an operating loss of £67m last season. This term, with no European prize money or matchdays at Old Trafford and another significant net spend, that is likely to widen.
Ratcliffe has made up some of the shortfall with equity injections totalling around £240m. By the summer, United had also used about £265m of their revolving credit facility, which is more or less like an overdraft.
With increased net transfer debt and reduced income, United’s negative cash flow position – i.e., how much their actual costs exceed their revenue – will likely worsen this season.
Per their last set of accounts, they have about £85m of their revolving credit facility left over, as well as around £86m in cash in the bank.
Some of that will clearly have been earmarked for working capital requirements, but any leftover should be sufficient to fund January signings, which would likely be heavily reliant on instalments.
That is de rigueur for most transfers these days anyway, but it might also simply be a necessity for United if they are to make additions.
Reportedly, Amorim could be handed in excess of £100m to spend. Depending on how they structure their deals, that could potentially be covered by their existing cash flows and credit facilities.
The Glazers rarely put their hand in their pocket and Ratcliffe is said to be experiencing some liquidity issues in his wider business operations, so he is unlikely to want to inject further capital at this stage.
However, United cannot spend beyond their means forever. At some point, the investment needs to generate a return on the pitch and, by extension, prize money, commercial income and matchday takings that are sufficient to cover wages and transfers going forward. We’re some way off that yet.
WHAT would be your dream January transfer window for Manchester United?💰🔥
Manager Ruben Amorim arrives ahead of the Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Manchester United at Selhurst Park in 2025 in London, England.
Photo by Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images
👇 Join the debate; share your insight. Use the comment button on the bottom left to have your say
Strategy – what United really should do this January?
That’s what’s possible. But just because you have a limit on your credit card, it doesn’t mean you should max it out.
United need to strengthen, yes, but making sure new signings are fully-costed is going to be key. Player trading, focusing on the exit door as well as the entrance, is paramount here.
The club is well aware of this. We are all familiar with the peripheral figures in the United squad who have been ushered towards that exit door for months and, in some cases, years.
A one in, one out policy – both in terms of actual personnel and committed wages, amortisation costs etc – is probably the way forward.
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