Manchester United are heading for record revenues despite not playing in the Champions League last season.
United announced their third-quarter results at lunchtime on Tuesday, less than an hour after another noisy and visual protest at Old Trafford against the Glazer family, who own the club.
That protest was timed to coincide with the launch of United’s kit for the 2023-24 campaign.
The Glazer family indicated they were ready to sell the club last November as they launched an assessment of ‘strategic financial alternatives’. Seven months on, there has been no sale, amid rumours some of the Glazer family are keen to retain an interest.
From the latest figures, it is easy to see why.
Stronger matchday and commercial revenue means United have revised their annual revenue forecast from between £590m and £610m to between £630m and £640m, which would eclipse their previous best of £627.1m in 2019.
United do still have large debts, in excess of £950m in total, including outstanding transfer fee payments of more than £160m.
However, they retain an ability to make money, even managing it on Tuesday as a handful of fans navigated their way past protesters outside the entrance to and exits from the club’s Megastore. United say their season ticket waiting list now stands at 146,000.
Despite a stalled move for Chelsea’s England international Mason Mount, United are insistent they have the cash to be competitive in the transfer market, although spending in previous years will limit them under Financial Fair Play regulations.
United are committed to try to find an alternative to front of shirt sponsor Team Viewer for the 2024-25 season and, yet again, shareholders received no dividend.
Not that this is any comfort to the three dozen fans who turned out on a drizzly Manchester morning to call for the Glazers to leave.
“It is not about who buys the club, it is about getting rid of the Glazers,” said Richard, one of the protesters.
“We are going into month eight now. What is the hold up? What are they waiting for?
“It is a lot wider than transfers. It is not about stopping people buying a shirt. Today is an opportunity to show the Glazers that we might be near the end but we are not going anywhere until they have gone.”
