Manchester United have confirmed that they are set to make a further 150 to 200 redundancies as part of wider cost-cutting measures under Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s stewardship at Old Trafford.
As revealed by The Athletic earlier this month, United will embark on another round of job cuts following 250 redundancies during the summer, with the news delivered to staff in a meeting at Old Trafford on Monday afternoon.
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The cut-backs will see United’s London office have a reduced staff going forward and will be combined with changes to the provision of food for employees, with the staff canteen at Old Trafford set to close.
Catering at Carrington will be unchanged for the remainder of the season but is expected to eventually see staff offered only soup and bread once the training ground’s main building reopens, with no changes to offerings for players.
Ratcliffe has embarked upon a series of cost-cutting measures since completing his minority investment in United in February 2024 and taking control of operations across the club.
United, who remain majority owned by the Florida-based Glazer family, have posted five consecutive full-year losses since last achieving profitability during the 2018-19 season, totalling £373million.
Last week, United’s second-quarter results revealed a £26.3m loss for the 2024-25 season to date, partly due to costs of £14.5m in relation to the exits of former manager Erik ten Hag and sporting director Dan Ashworth.
What have United said on the cost-cutting?
Omar Berrada, United’s chief executive, said: “We have a responsibility to put Manchester United in the strongest position to win across our men’s, women’s and academy teams.
“We are initiating a wide-ranging series of measures which will transform and renew the club. Unfortunately, this means announcing further potential redundancies and we deeply regret the impact on those affected colleagues. However, these hard choices are necessary to put the club back on a stable financial footing.
“We have lost money for the past five consecutive years. This cannot continue. Our two main priorities as a club are delivering success on the pitch for our fans and improving our facilities. We cannot invest in these objectives if we are continuously losing money.
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“At the end of this process, we will have a more lean, agile and financially sustainable football club, while continuing to provide a world-class service to our valuable commercial partners.
“We will then be in a much stronger position to invest in football success and improved facilities for fans, while remaining compliant with UEFA and Premier League regulations.”
Berrada (Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images)
Why are United making these redundancies?
United have been burning through money for the best part of five years now, recording losses of £373m in total over that period. And with a further £26.3m loss recorded so far this season, the long wait to return to profitability has continued under Ratcliffe’s stewardship.
United’s financial issues are partly a legacy of wasteful spending in recruitment, contributing to inconsistent results on the pitch, leading to managers losing their jobs.
This season’s £26.3m loss to date includes £14.5m paid in exceptional costs related to the exits of former manager Erik ten Hag, his backroom staff and sporting director Dan Ashworth.
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Such consistent, heavy losses have put pressure on United to comply with the Premier League and UEFA’s spending regulations over the last few seasons.
United also struggle to generate cold, hard cash through their day-to-day business. The club’s bank balance currently stands at a healthy £95.5m, but that’s only after £238.5m of investment by Ratcliffe and a further £200m drawdown on their revolving credit facility over the last year.
In an interview with the United We Stand fanzine in December, Ratcliffe said: “To get Manchester United to where we need to get it, it’s a bit like the country. We have to make some difficult and unpopular decisions. If you shy away from the difficult decisions then nothing much is going to change.
“There are financial issues which we need to address because we’ve inherited a financial situation that only time will solve,” he added.
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How much money will this save?
Last summer’s round of approximately 250 redundancies is set to save the club an annualised cost of between £40m and £45m in the long run. United expect those savings to be realised in the club’s financial results over the course of this year and next.
At that rate, at least 100 more redundancies would cut staffing costs by £18m at the upper end. A figure closer to 200 could save £36m.
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But though designed to cut costs in the long run, United will have to pay the short-term price of redundancy packages to departing staff. Costs of £8.6m related to the summer’s restructuring were recorded in United’s first quarter accounts and additional charges of a similar if lesser level can be expected in this next phase.
Avram Glazer and Ratcliffe (Crystal Pix/MB Media/Getty Images)
How does United’s workforce compare to other clubs?
United have the largest workforce of any single Premier League club, at an average of 1,140 monthly employees at the end of the 2023-24 campaign.
Manchester City had just 611 employees over the same period, although the Premier League champions are part of the wider City Football Group multi-club network, which boasted 1,703 employees in all at the last count.
By comparison, Liverpool had 1,008 employees at the end of the 2022-23 season. Chelsea and Arsenal had 872 and 723 staff members respectively over the same period.
United’s 1,140 employees was the club’s largest workforce ever and had steadily grown over the previous eight years, having fallen to 799 in 2016.
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What are United’s other big expenditures?
Staffing costs are always the greatest expense for a Premier League club and are overwhelmingly driven by players’ salaries. At the end of the 2021-22 season, United’s £384m wage bill set an English football record, but it has since fallen back to £364m and been overtaken by rivals.
Transfer spending has been consistently high, regardless of whether United have qualified for the money-spinning Champions League or not, which was reflected in £102.7m’s worth of amortisation costs so far this season.
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United’s debt currently stands at £734m, more than two-thirds of which is related to the Glazer family’s controversial leveraged buy-out in 2005 and is denominated in U.S. dollars, meaning the pound sterling values of the debt and related interest payments rise and fall with exchange rate fluctuations.
United paid £37.2m in cash to cover interest charges last season — coincidentally, just shy of estimates of what could be saved through this latest round of redundancies. Since the Glazers’ takeover, that figure has totalled £847.6m.
Ugarte’s €50m arrival from PSG was part of a £205m summer spree (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
What other cost-cutting measures has the club taken?
INEOS’ cost-cutting measures have been wide-ranging and numerous, even extending to legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson, whose £2m-per-year ambassadorial role was brought to an end in October. Other ambassadorial payments to former players and ex-chief executive David Gill were also cut.
Company credit cards have been withdrawn, while at the rank-and-file level, staff were denied the traditional perk of free travel and accommodation for the FA Cup final last May and the annual office Christmas party was cancelled, among other measures.
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Supporters have been affected by cuts too, such as the scrapping of European away ticket collections. But most controversially, United introduced a mid-season ticket price increase at the end of last year, charging £66 for remaining unsold tickets, wiping out concessions pricing for under-18s and over-65s.
Supporters’ groups are fearful of further increases when United confirm their ticketing policy for the 2025-26 campaign over the coming weeks and months, with the Manchester United Supporters’ Trust insisting that this would be “the worst possible time” for further hikes due to underwhelming performances on-the-pitch.
(Top photo: Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
