Manchester United’s objective is to qualify for the Champions League, but entering the Europa League or Conference League may actually be a hindrance.
Following the decision to sack Ruben Amorim as head coach, sporting director Jason Wilcox has made it clear he is targeting Champions League qualification in 2025/26.
It is up to newly-appointed interim head coach Michael Carrick to achieve that objective in the next 17 Premier League games.
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Manchester United currently sit seventh in the Premier League table, but are just three points off the top five.
If United fall short and instead qualify for the Europa League or the Conference League, it may ironically end up having a negative impact financially.
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Man United could be financially capped by Uefa rules
The new squad-cost ratio rules in the Premier League mean that top-flight clubs can spend 85% of their revenue on transfer fees, wages and agent costs. They are replacing the current PSR regulations which have proven to be controversial.
However, Uefa have their own set of Financial Fair Play regulations which clubs must abide by if they are competing in European competition.
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Speaking on The United Stand, journalist Ben Jacobs explained why qualification to the Conference League might actually be a net negative for the Red Devils.
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“On the financial rules, in theory, Manchester United under the squad cost ratio rules will have more flexibility than under PSR with or without European football. But particularly, of course, with some form of European football.
“But if it isn’t Champions League, the downside is you then enter back into FFP. And whereas the threshold of your revenue that you can spend on players, on agent fees, and on wages is higher under the new domestic rules, you’ve still got to abide by that 70% number for FFP.
“So weirdly, if Man United got Conference League, they’d fall under FFP and they’d be in a worse position. But if they get Champions League football, they’ll have a lot more rope to work with because they’re bringing in more revenue.”
Finance expert explains Man United’s £495m problem
Jacobs explains that the Uefa rules state that clubs can only spend 70% of revenue on transfer fees, wages and agent costs, meaning United’s budget would actually shrink if they qualify for Europe and have to follow these regulations.
United in Focus have spoken exclusively to GRV Media’s finance expert Adam Williams about the scenario facing the Red Devils.
“Ben Jacobs is right. From speaking to executives at Premier League clubs, it’s clear that some now see the junior UEFA competitions as more of a hindrance than a help financially. There’s both a costs and revenue element to this and the issue of spending regulations,” Williams said.
“For starters, if Man United get into the Conference League, for example, they are only guaranteed a few million in prize money plus matchday income from three extra games at Old Trafford. But that revenue can quite easily be negated by the appearance fees you have to pay players, administrative costs and so on. It’s only if you go deep into these competitions that they actually start to become profitable on a net basis.
“On top of that, if you qualify for the Europa or the Conference League, you have to get in line with UEFA’s Squad Cost Ratio rules. In the Champions League, you easily generate enough revenue in prize money and so on that this isn’t really a problem, but in the junior UEFA competitions it gets trickier because there is the same 70 per cent spending cap but less revenue coming in proportionately.
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“Man United’s revenue in 2024-25 was £666.5m. Under the SCR system, you’re allowed to spend 70 per cent of that figure plus a three-year average on player sale profits on first-team wages and transfer costs. Player sale profits have been about £40m in recent seasons, so let’s use that as our starting point. That means they can spend about £495m in the calendar year.
“Wages were £313m last season, of which about 75 per cent is for the first team, so about £235m, and they had transfer amortisation of £193m. That means their squad cost was about £428m. Amortisation and wages will have risen after spending in the summer, so they might not have huge room for manoeuvre, depending on how much growth there is in core revenues. I don’t expect that to actually breach if they get into Europe, but it is certainly a consideration for clubs in their situation.”
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