The club also revealed that £63.5m from an extra $125m (£94.14m) added to its long-standing debt during a summer refinancing operation was used to acquire land for the proposed stadium. It has not disclosed how the remaining money was allocated. Construction of the new venue is expected to cost more than £2bn.
Although total debt has fallen from £1.3bn at the end of December, it remains above £1bn. This includes £577.6m of historic debt, £111.4m still owed through the revolving credit facility, and unpaid transfer instalments. Club sources estimate that these transfer obligations account for about 75% of the £473m recorded as trade and other payables.
The financial figures have emerged amid growing frustration among supporters, who believe Michael Carrick’s first-team squad did not receive enough investment during the summer.
United paid £148m to recruit Carlos Baleba, Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans. That total was less than one-third of Manchester City’s £458m spending and even below the amount invested by newly promoted Ipswich.
Fans are particularly unhappy that another left-back was not signed to challenge Luke Shaw, who has already missed three matches through injury. They also wanted more attacking cover for Benjamin Sesko, who sat out pre-season while recovering from a shin problem that has since returned.
United maintain that the additional borrowing was designated for a new stadium planned approximately 350 yards from Old Trafford, although the loan is officially recorded in the club’s accounts.
Chief executive Omar Berrada welcomed the achievement of record revenue.
He said the figures underline the fundamental strength of the business and reflect the benefits of the work carried out over the previous two years.
Berrada added that, despite evidence of positive progress, the club would maintain a careful and controlled strategy to protect its long-term financial stability.
He also said that this focus on sustainability had not prevented United from improving both the men’s and women’s squads during the summer transfer window, while the men’s side had brought Champions League football back to Old Trafford.
United have also faced criticism over limited spending on their Women’s Super League squad, which sits second from bottom after collecting only one point from its opening three matches.
Ratcliffe previously insisted that decisive measures were required to reduce the club’s losses. Two rounds of redundancies resulted in 450 job cuts, while the latest accounts show that salary expenditure fell by £11.3m to £302m.
According to the club, the reduction was mainly caused by changes to the composition of the men’s first-team squad, together with savings generated by workforce reduction programmes introduced across the previous two financial years.
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