Man City panel ruling spotlights Manchester United’s debt and rising interest costs
A Premier League panel concluded that Manchester City's income was overstated by over £830 million, a finding published less than five days after Manchester United submitted extended New York Stock Exchange accounts for the year to 30 June 2026. United's filing showed an interest payment of £37m for the year, up from £34m the previous year.
Swiss Ramble now estimates Manchester United's net interest payments since the leveraged Glazer takeover in 2005 have reached £852m, and chief executive Omar Berrada said: "While these results confirm that we are on the right trajectory, we will continue to take a disciplined approach to ensure our finances remain sustainable." United's third-place finish secured a return to the Champions League after a two-year absence, and the club reported record revenues of £677.6m with projections of up to £760m in 2026-27.
Since 30 June United disclosed they have spent £191.7m on new players and associated costs — notably Carlos Baleba, Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans — plus academy players such as England youth international Tynan Thompson, with payments due "in the next five years." Carlos Baleba is yet to make his first-team debut for Manchester United, the club added, and United said they had borrowed an additional £90m, taking overall debt to £1.15bn compared with £667m in accounts to June 2021.
Prior to 30 June the club's transfer debt stood at £375m, of which £218m must be paid before 30 June 2027, and United said they are liable for a further £122.8m in potential contract payments tied to pre-agreed targets for players already signed. The club also noted that the June debt restructuring added $125m (£94.36m) to their main borrowings and that Radek Vitek's move to Middlesbrough could eventually net Manchester United £14m.
On 23 September United disclosed they had spent £63.5m on land for a proposed new stadium, while the precise funding model for that project is still to be determined; many fans, particularly those opposed to a new stadium, expressed the view that the sum might have been better invested in Michael Carrick's squad. Supporter unrest included protests before the home defeat by Manchester City on 13 September.
United reported a wage bill of £313m in 2025, the fifth highest in the Premier League, falling to £302m in 2025-26 in the absence of European football, and their wages-to-turnover ratio was 45%. The club's summer transfer outlay was £148m while sales generated £47m by the close of the window on 1 September, placing them 11th in the Premier League for transfer income; only Liverpool of the 'big six' brought in less from sales.
Since the sale of Romelu Lukaku to Inter Milan for £74m in 2019, United have generated more than £25m from a player on only four occasions — Mason Greenwood, Scott McTominay, Rasmus Hojlund and Alejandro Garnacho — and this summer several younger players were sold for lower fees than anticipated or for none, often with significant sell-on and buy-back clauses included. The Premier League voted in June 2023 to cap future leveraged buyouts at around 65% of a club's value, a move the club said was in response to ALK Capital's takeover of Burnley in December 2020, a timetable many United fans regard as late.
Berrada and his colleagues face a set of financial trade-offs: controlling costs, reducing outstanding transfer liabilities, avoiding extension of the revolving credit facility and funding a new stadium, while still allocating resources to the playing squad. When Michael Carrick's side host bottom-club Tottenham at Old Trafford on 10 October they will be attempting to climb up from 12th place in the table, with Champions League qualification identified within the club as a significant part of the season's objectives.