Manchester United have published their full-year financial results for 2025-26, revealing record revenues of £677.6m alongside a £43m annual loss — the seventh consecutive year the club has finished in the red.
The figures represent a widening of losses from the £33m recorded the previous year, even as the club posted an operating profit of £22.6m, a turnaround from the £18.4m operating loss generated twelve months earlier. Net finance costs for the year were £69.6m, an increase of 228.3 per cent, with the club attributing much of that rise to a foreign-exchange loss. Net debt rose from £471.9m to £577.6m following a refinancing of several loans, while overall debt remained above £1bn.
Revenue rose by 1.7 per cent from £666.5m — a result the club described as particularly significant given there was no European football and no training-kit sponsor in place for the year. Broadcasting income climbed by £33.9m owing to a third-place Premier League finish, though matchday revenue fell by £6.8m after early exits in both domestic cups led to a season of just 40 games.
The dismissal of head coach Ruben Amorim in January 2026, with 18 months remaining on his contract, contributed to the losses. At the time of the club's third-quarter results in May, the maximum exposure from his exit and those of his backroom staff was recorded at £16.7m. Amorim's subsequent appointment as AC Milan head coach during the summer reduced the final bill to £8.2m — described in the accounts as exceptional items, covering severance payments to Amorim and his coaches Carlos Fernandes, Adelio Candido, Emanuel Ferro and Jorge Vital. The club therefore saved £8.5m against its earlier forecast.
"While these results confirm that we are on the right trajectory, we will continue to take a disciplined approach to ensure our finances remain sustainable," chief executive Omar Berrada said as the results were published on Wednesday.
Berrada also addressed the summer transfer window, in which the club spent £155m on three players — Carlos Baleba, Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans — saying the activity had been planned with financial sustainability in mind. Wage costs fell by £11.3m to £302m, partly as a result of two rounds of redundancies that cost 450 members of staff their jobs. The club is forecasting revenues of between £740m and £760m for 2026-27, boosted by the return of Champions League football and new commercial arrangements with training-kit partner Betway and sleeve partner SumUp, worth £20m and £22m a year respectively.
Among the major capital commitments confirmed in the accounts was the purchase of a plot of land 350 metres north-west of Old Trafford for £63.5m, earmarked as the proposed site of a new 100,000-capacity stadium. The project could cost in excess of £2bn in total, though the club has yet to set out how it intends to fund the full development.
On the pitch, manager Michael Carrick — appointed permanently after guiding the club to third place during an interim spell — has made a difficult start to 2026-27. His side have won just one of their opening five Premier League matches and sit 12th in the table. Addressing the constraints on his squad, Carrick said: "The situation is what it is, in terms of finances and what we can work with."
Meanwhile, Amorim has begun life at Milan in considerably smoother fashion. His side are unbeaten through five Serie A matches, winning three, and sit fifth in the Italian top flight ahead of the international break.
Reporting: Football Italia, FourFourTwo, BBC Sport, talkSPORT, Mirror, ESPN, The Guardian, RTÉ, The Sun, Sky Sports, Daily Star.