There was an unmistakable note of financial caution as Manchester United's chief decision makers addressed investors on Thursday, as the club announced their latest set of financial results.
A record-breaking wage bill and a sharp rise in operating losses were the headline figures, with the net debt also shooting up and another £33million exiting the coffers in dividends in the 12 months to June 2022. Those results end just as United were beginning an unprecedented summer of spending, lavishing around £225million on new players for Erik ten Hag's squad.
That £384million wage bill will benefit from the raft of departures in the summer, but this was a recruitment drive like United have never been on before as well. Football director J ohn Murtough said that kind of window won't be repeated, while chief financial officer Cliff Baty spoke of a return to a "more normalised level of wages" and stressed the importance of Champions League football on revenue.
