Sir Jim Ratcliffe has big problem to fix as £667m 'record' figures lead to 30-year low

Manchester United’s red-hot revenue has insulated the club from the worst consequences of the Glazers’ mismanagement in recent years, but the cold is now creeping in.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe recognised when he arrived at Old Trafford that the business needed to be overhauled – both in terms of revenue generation and costs.

But his methods have been divisive and, most football finance experts and supporters concur, logically inconsistent.

The Ineos billionaire has dismissed hundreds of low-paid staff members while simultaneously ramping up transfer spending.

Fill in the blank

Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Manchester United project will only succeed if ______

He has pledged to build a new 100,000-seater stadium but failed to outline a clear commercial vision.

And perhaps worst of all, Ratcliffe has lurched from one strategy to the next when it comes to personnel.

“In modern football you need to decide what’s your path and you stick to your path,” he said after buying just under a third of the club for £1.25bn in February 2024.

More United News

And yet Erik ten Hag, Ruben Amorim, Dan Ashworth, Dave Brailsford, Jean-Claude Blanc and many other senior figures have either come and gone or had their duties drastically pared back.

United’s thumping 2-0 win over Manchester City under the interim charge of Michael Carrick last Saturday was one of the high points of the Ineos era, but the financial gap between the two rivals is still enormous – and it’s getting bigger, too.

The Deloitte Football Money League is one of the most anticipated events of the football finance calendar.

Since its inception in 1996-97, United have never once fallen out of the top five in the Money League, which ranks teams according to revenue. On 10 occasions, they have topped the standings.

In the 2025 edition, which accounted for the 2023-24 season, United were ranked 4th behind Paris Saint-Germain, Man City and Real Madrid.

However, when the 2024-25 edition is released this Thursday, United’s turnover of £667m is likely to only get them to 8th place at best, with Liverpool, Arsenal, Bayern Munich and Barcelona all but guaranteed to have overtaken the Red Devils.

The £667m United generated in 2024-25 was a new club record. However, when adjusting for inflation, United have actually gone backwards by almost £100m since their apex in the 2018-19 season.

Man United’s rivals are overtaking them in the financial stakes

What does Sir Jim need to do to fix this MESS?

“This is reflective of how pre-eminent Champions League football has become,” says University of Liverpool football finance lecturer Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to United in Focus about the imminent release of the 2026 Deloitte Football Money League.

“Remember, United reached the final of a European competition last season but they are going to fall significantly in the Money League.

“They wanted to be part of the Super League, and there is a remote danger that they end up becoming detached financially. There needs to be smart decision making to recover that position.

“We saw it took Arsenal quite a few years to recover after Arsene Wenger left – and there are some parallels between United and Arsenal here.

“Their commercial revenue flatlined for quite a few years and it’s only since Josh Kroenke came in and loosened the purse strings that Arsenal have managed to get back where they are.

“It indicates that Manchester United have been sitting on their laurels for too long. Commercial and matchday income certainly flatlined after five or six years of not winning the Premier League or Champions League. There are real consequences to that.

“Does Sir Jim Ratcliffe have the patience to stick with a manager for the length of time needed to see a project through? Mikel Arteta hasn’t won any of the very biggest trophies but Arsenal have stuck with him. United, on the other hand, press the eject button very quickly.”

Click here to read article