A football finance expert believes Manchester United came close to breaching the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) last season but managed to comply with the top-flight’s restrictions thanks to two “exceptional concessions”.
Everton were penalised twice by the Premier League last season for breaching financial restrictions. The Toffees were docked a total of eight points for two separate charges after breaching the rules. Nottingham Forest were also fined four points for admitting a breach of league rules.
PSR has caused chaos in the top flight of English football and teams have had to think smartly about how to comply with the rules.
In effect, the regulations require clubs to report only a certain amount of losses over a three-year period, up to June 30. Clubs cannot lose more than £105m in a three-year period, which equates to £35m each year.
Meanwhile, Manchester United have been through a period of change over the past 12 months. The arrival of new minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS has seen the British billionaire shake up Old Trafford, from the board to the matchday staff.
A football finance expert believes Manchester United may have breached Premier League financial rules last season
According to the expert, Erik ten Hag’s team managed to avoid infringements thanks to two “exceptional concessions”.
Manchester United have been through a period of change following INEOS’ £1.3bn investment in the club.
Following INEOS’ £1.3bn investment in the club, United have been making inroads into the transfer market, having signed Leny Yoro and Joshua Zirkzee this summer, with the Red Devils paying almost £86m for both.
United are also undergoing a £50m renovation of their training ground and there has been much talk that the club could build a new 100,000-capacity stadium.
But according to football finance expert Stefan Borson, United came close to exceeding PSR last season.
“United is very interesting because we have quite a bit of information on United from their US quarterly report and so we know that we’ve been told that the year-end results will be £660m in revenue and around £140m of EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation),” Borson said. talkSPORT.
“It also tells us a few things about their costs. The bottom line is that if you apply that assessment over three years, United would have failed last season’s PSR test, save for two things.”
‘Firstly, they were apparently given an exceptional £40m allocation for Covid in 2022, which no other club had.
“The most any other club received that year was around a million pounds. We don’t know how they got it.
‘On top of that, they appear to have been given an allowance of around £35m of exceptional costs relating to the sale of shares to (INEOS chief executive Sir Jim) Ratcliffe, which to be fair the Glazers should have paid themselves anyway given they were the main beneficiaries.’
Everton were fined eight points last season after the Toffees were charged with two PSR breaches
Fans of the Merseyside club staged protests inside Goodison Park, holding banners calling the Premier League “corrupt”.
The Premier League also docked four points from Nottingham Forest for breaching the PSR (pictured: Evangelos Marinakis, club owner)
United have also been active in the transfer market with Joshua Zirkzee becoming their first signing of the summer window.
The Red Devils have also completed the £52m signing of highly-rated 18-year-old Lille defender Leny Yoro.
United begin their 2024-25 Premier League campaign on August 16 against Fulham at home
“But we know from the numbers that it was £35m and the only way they can achieve the 23/24 PSR numbers and this is not just my opinion but the opinion of a number of people who run the numbers, is by having these allocations.”
Questions have been raised over United’s £40m COVID allocation in recent days, with fellow football finance expert Kieran Maguire taking to X to explain the fund.
After looking into the matter, he explained on X: ‘Some people asked me to look into the £40m COVID allocation that Man Utd have in the 21/22 accounts.
‘I have spoken to senior sources at the Club and elsewhere. The reasons are 1) Cancellation of the 2021 summer tour; 2) Bad debts caused by the insolvency of a commercial partner; 3) The Club is unable to meet obligations to sponsor partners in the summer of 2021; and 4) Refunds from broadcasters to the Premier League and UEFA.
Kieran Maguire has also been investigating Man United’s £40m Covid allowance and has explained why the sum was given to the Red Devils.
United have returned from their pre-season tour of the United States this week ahead of their FA Community Shield clash against rivals Manchester City.
United are also exploring options to redevelop Old Trafford, with plans to build a new stadium being discussed.
The club have also announced they will carry out a £50m renovation of their Carrington training ground.
‘Because #MUFC is listed in New York, it has to disclose more information than other clubs, many of which have COVID claims but do not appear in the accounts. Conclusion: There is no corruption on the part of PL.’
There are several other clubs in the league still under PSR scrutiny, including Leicester.
The Foxes could face sanctions next season after they were charged in March with breaching rules in relation to the 2022-23 season, where they suffered relegation to the Championship.
Newcastle are another team that have been working to avoid a financial penalty and are looking to raise more capital to ensure they meet regulatory requirements.
Meanwhile, Manchester City are currently embroiled in a legal battle with the Premier League over 115 alleged charges of breaching the English top-flight’s financial rules.
While there is no specific date for the expected trial, an initial hearing could take place in November and last up to six weeks.
Meanwhile, clubs have also voted to replace the PSR from the 2025-26 season and will instead implement squad cost control regulations. These will limit clubs to spending 85 per cent of their total income on wages, transfers and agent fees.