It’s been widely expected that Manchester United are in for a busy summer in the transfer market.
This summer presents Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his Ineos team with their first opportunity to make changes to a playing squad that slumped to a disappointing eighth-place finish in the Premier League last season.
And if the early transfer rumours are correct, the club are in for some big signings, with talks believed to be underway with Bayern Munich over Matthijs de Ligt, while a bid has been made for Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite and links to Bologna’s Dutch forward Joshua Zirkzee are intensifying.
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But the release of the Manchester United's latest quarterly accounts has raised concerns over their Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) limits, which could dramatically alter their transfer landscape this summer.
These accounts showed that the club posted a £71.4million net loss for the three months ending on March 31, 2024. That means that with the final three months of the 2023/24 campaign still to be accounted for, their current figures show a £89.2million loss before tax.
PSR rules permit losses of up to £105million over a three-year period, with the Red Devils loss for the current PSR cycle that ends in 2023/24 standing at £271.4million, which is way above this £105million limit.
Work, therefore, will need to be done to get within these limits and to be able to affrord to spend this summer.
The January transfer window saw them bank a loan fee potentially rising to £3.4million for Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund, with the bulk of the winger’s also being paid. Donny van de Beek’s loan move to Eintracht Frankfurt will have also made a saving, which will improve their standing.
These figures also show why the club approached the January window cautiously, although the fact that they did not look to move players on before June 30, which has now become the unofficial new PSR deadline day, may be a positive sign.
In terms of recruitment this summer, the club may find that they need to raise funds if they are to complete the splashy deals they have been linked with in recent weeks, with the likes of Casemiro, Sancho, Bruno Fernandes and Mason Greenwood some of the players linked with the exit door.
Should the club breach their PSR limits, then they could expect to receive a points deduction, as was the case with Everton and Nottingham Forest last season.
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