Man Utd finances can't hide fact that Sir Jim Ratcliffe is following the Glazers' blueprint

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According to Omar Berrada, the Manchester United hierarchy is making “strong progress” in their “transformation of the club.” The chief executive officer bases this claim on first-quarter accounts which, he says, show “robust financial results”.

To the layman, they do not seem overly ‘robust’, and financial types on social media were not exactly bowled over by the numbers. Neither was the New York Stock Exchange.

There was an operating profit of £13.3million compared to a £6.9m loss in the first quarter of the last financial year, but that was mainly down to player sales, most notably somehow getting Chelsea to hand over £40m for Alejandro Garnacho. Chelsea have come to the rescue of a few clubs when it comes to balancing the books. Ask Brighton and Hove Albion.

But Manchester United should not be a club that relies heavily on player sales. The figures might be robust but there is no doubt a lack of European football will have an impact on this year’s numbers.

The total revenue for the quarter - £140.3m, which is slightly down, year on year - still shows the financial strength of the club. That is still a projected annual revenue of around £650m. They are still big numbers. But what will jar with supporters is the club’s net debt, now at a record high of £749.2m.

And what will grate even more is that the original £481m debt from the Glazers’ leveraged takeover is still there. It is has not been reduced.

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A financial and footballing powerhouse such as United can shoulder such debt but the fact the Glazers have since taken out tens and tens of millions of pounds in dividends and share sales is an insult to supporters. According to the renowned football finance expert Kieran Maguire , since the Glazers took over in 2005, the accumulated pre-tax losses total £531m and the cumulative net interest costs are in excess of £1bn.

But the Glazers have been ok, don’t worry about that. Perhaps they will start paying themselves dividends again, now there is a profit on the table.

And that would cheer up those long-serving office staff who have been culled by Sir Jim Ratcliffe and those left who have had their free lunches taken away. But for all the debt and the bad taste left by Sir Jim’s ruthless cost-cutting, the figures do again show that United remain a financial and commercial powerhouse in European football.

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They just need to re-establish themselves as a powerhouse on the field of play. They just need to get back to the top table, to Premier League and Champions League contention.

Berrada says a ‘sustainably lower cost base’ and ‘a more streamlined, effective organisation’ has helped the club “invest in our men’s and women’s teams, sitting in sixth and third places in the Premier League and women’s Super League respectively.” As if that is some sort of boast.

But while this latest financial announcement is unlikely to turn heads on or off the pitch, it does once again show that if Ruben Amorim can work the miracle, United can become a perennial force once again. That, though, is a very big 'if'.

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