Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe made a significant promise to the club last year
Sir Jim Ratcliffe looks on
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has seen his time as Manchester United co-owner filled with controversy so far (Image: PA)
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Sir Jim Ratcliffe has just two years remaining to fulfil his pledge to turn Manchester United into the world's most lucrative football club. There is considerable work required if that 2028 target is to be achieved.
United slipped four positions to seventh in this year's Deloitte Football Money League, which was published in January. The club generated £666million but were surpassed by Arsenal, Man City, Liverpool, Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Real Madrid, who led the rankings with £975m.
It was on March 11, 2025, that Ratcliffe spoke candidly about his first year as a co-owner at Old Trafford. The INEOS boss tackled a broad spectrum of subjects with The Times, including dismissing Erik ten Hag, controversially slashing expenditure throughout the organisation, and even supporting Ruben Amorim, who was ultimately sacked earlier this year.
"It will be a very profitable club," Ratcliffe said as he addressed the club's precarious financial situation early last year. "We believe that in three years' time it will be the most profitable football club in the world. And it will be in a very, very different place. But we need to go through the change. Nobody likes change."
Change has indeed swept through Old Trafford. Michael Carrick has stepped in as interim head coach, replacing Amorim, whilst Ratcliffe has implemented drastic cost-cutting measures since shelling out £1billion to secure a 27.7 per cent stake in the club in February 2024.
Under Ratcliffe's watch, up to 450 jobs have been slashed at United, and free meals for club staff have also been scrapped. Justifying his harsh cost-cutting actions, Ratcliffe said: "The costs were just too high.
"There are some fantastic people at Manchester United, but there was also a level of mediocrity and it had become bloated. I got a lot of flak for the free lunches, but no one's ever given me a free lunch."
Ratcliffe further incensed United fans by hiking match-day ticket prices to £66 per game, offering no discounts for children or pensioners. "Manchester United is a lot more than a business," he said in his notorious interview.
Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe looks on during the Premier League match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Manchester United
Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has undertaken a host of cost-cutting measures at the club(Image: Getty Images)
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"It's also a very emotional entity. But if you think about Manchester United as a business, it's gone off the rails. It's gone off the rails a long way, really.
"If you look at the numbers, the numbers were fairly scary, really. Because they'd sort of lost control, I think, of where the ship was headed. And the costs had got out of control."
Despite United's men's team missing out on European football for this season, they did manage to post an operating profit of £32.6m in the first six months of the fiscal year, compared with a £3.9m loss for the same period last year.
The operating profit for the most recent quarter stood at £19.6m, compared to £3.1m during the same period last year. However, the latest financial documents have shown that the club faces repayments of £295m in borrowings and £238m in transfer fees within 12 months – and could also owe additional compensation to the dismissed Amorim.
Manchester United have plans for a new 100,000 seat stadium and wider generation of Old Trafford
Manchester United have plans for a new 100,000 seat stadium and wider generation of Old Trafford(Image: Foster + Partners)
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The recent second-quarter figures have already indicated that United's debt is nearing the £1.3bn mark. Ratcliffe is also planning to construct a new 100,000-capacity stadium, with completion targeted for the 2030/31 season.
The ambitious new venue is projected to cost £2bn, though it remains uncertain exactly how this will be financed. United's co-owner was also highly confident that 'Mission 21', the club's name for the initiative aimed at securing their 21st top-flight title, would be achieved in time for United's 150th anniversary in 2028.
Speaking in October 2025, Ratcliffe restated his bold vision for United. "Those numbers will get better," he said. "Manchester United will become the most profitable football club in the world, in my view, and from that will stem, I hope, a long-term, sustainable, high-level of football."
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