Manchester United’s net debt has broken the $1 billion barrier for the first time due to summer borrowings for player recruitment, taking the club’s overall debt to its highest level since the Glazer family takeover in 2005.
In the club’s first-quarter accounts published Thursday, United’s noncurrent borrowings — debt mountain built since the Glazers’ leveraged takeover — were reported at £481 million ($644m).
But with United using a further £105m from their revolving credit facility — an additional borrowing mechanism — to take their total borrowings to £268m, United’s total net debt has grown to £749m ($1.002bn). United have been servicing their huge debt since the Glazers, the owners of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers NFL franchise, bought the previously debt-free club 20 years ago.
The INEOS Group, led by Britain’s richest man, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, became minority owners in February 2024 after acquiring a 27.7% stake in the club in a deal costing £1.3 billion.
Ratcliffe and INEOS have since undertaken a cost-cutting drive at Old Trafford aimed at making the club more sustainable.
Despite breaking the billion dollar debt mark for the first time, United chief executive Omar Berrada said the latest financial results show they are making “strong progress in our transformation of the club.”
United are without European football this season but reported a £13m operating profit for the first three months of the campaign, after a £6.9m loss in the same period last term.
United’s total revenue for the period dropped by 2% to £140.3m because of the absence of continental competition for the men’s team, who sit sixth in the Premier League under Ruben Amorim. The women’s team, coached by Marc Skinner, sit third in the Women’s Super League and are competing in the Women’s Champions League.
“These robust financial results reflect the resilience of Manchester United as we make strong progress in our transformation of the club,” Berrada said. “The difficult decisions we have made in the past year have resulted in a sustainably lower cost base and a more streamlined, effective organisation equipped to drive the club towards improved sporting and commercial performance over the long-term.
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“That has helped us to invest in our men’s and women’s teams, sitting in sixth and third places in the Premier League and Women’s Super League respectively.”
The financial statement said United continue “to see the impact of operating cost and headcount reduction programmes implemented during the previous year.”
INEOS oversaw a widescale redundancy scheme, which formed part of a wider restructuring of club operations that accounted for £8.6m in exceptional items in the first quarter of fiscal 2026.
That program, along with reduced player wages, saw employee benefit expenses for the quarter decrease by £6.6m on the previous year to £73.6m.
United’s sponsorship revenue has fallen by 9.3% to £47m, largely because of a lack of a training kit partner after their deal with Tezos ended. United say they remain on track to record revenues of between £640m and £660m.