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Manchester United may have no European football to look forward to next season but it has not prevented them from delving into the transfer market.
A £62.5m deal was agreed to sign Brazil forward Matheus Cunha from Wolves on the opening day of the latest transfer window, which is split into two phases this summer.
United are now also are in pursuit of Brentford striker Bryan Mbeumo after submitting a bid of £45m and £10m in add-ons for the Cameroon international.
However, this activity is set against the backdrop of part owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe delivering a dire assement of the club’s finances in March and the subsequent ramifications of their Europa League final defeat to Tottenham.
That denied the 20-time English champions a Champions League spot and a guaranteed £70m just for participating in Europe’s elite club competition.
Since then captain Bruno Fernandes has also rejected the overtures of Saudi Pro-League club Al-Hilal, which may have generated a transfer fee of between £80-100m.
And given United ended up 15th in the Premier League last term, and boss Ruben Amorim is wedded to a 3-4-3 formation that is not suited to those at his disposal, the club’s need for new blood seems greater than ever before.
But just how can they afford it without breaching profit and sustainability rules (PSR) which limit clubs to losses of £105m over three years?
BBC Sport talks to football finance expert Kieran Maguire, who estimates that the club will still be well within their means even if they outlay £150m on new signings.
United have significant headroom to do deals
The noises coming out of Old Trafford from Amorim and his players felt despondent and defeatist in the immediate aftermath of United’s failure to reach the Champions League.
Defender Luke Shaw described a club at “rock bottom”, while the former Sporting boss questioned his own future in Manchester.
There were suggestions transfer moves would be downgraded from a Plan A to less expensive alternatives, all while news of a new wave of redundancies to cut costs filtered through.
Gallows humour pervaded in the stands prior to United’s final Premier League game of a dismal 2024-25 campaign against Aston Villa – especially when talk turned to their prospects for next year.
Yet, for Maguire, talk of a financial crisis and a club struggling to meet PSR obligations is well wide of the mark.
“Even without European football they [United] could spend £150m without breaking into a sweat,” Maguire told BBC Sport.
“The picture that has been painted of Manchester United’s finances has exaggerated the negativity. They make more cash on a day-to-day basis than any other club in the Premier League.
“The club does not lose as much money as is claimed and their position is far better than everybody is looking at because everybody is looking at the wrong company.
“Everybody is looking at the New York company – Manchester United plc but there is another company called Red Football which is owned by the Glazers and that is forming the basis of the PSR calculation.
“The losses at Red Football Ltd are far lower than they are at Manchester United plc so therefore the extent of the damage is far less than originally envisaged.”
Academy graduate sales make PSR sense
On the face of it, deals for former Atletic Madrid player Cunha and potentially Mbeumo would total over £100m and eat into a significant chunk of United’s summer budget before sales.
However, accounting practices mean that is not actually the case.
“When you bring in a new player you would normally put them on a four or five-year contract. The way the accounting works – you take the cost of the player and divide it by the length of the contract,” added Maguire.
“If you sign someone for £150m it would cost them £30m next year plus the wages.
“But you only have to go and sell a couple of players of the calibre of [Alejandro] Garnacho, [Marcus] Rashford and co to get more than £60m of profit coming in so it effectively pays for itself.
“So you can pay out a far bigger multiple than the sales proceeds of those that might be departing.”
The likes of Tyrell Malacia, Jadon Sancho, Rashford, Garnacho and Antony have all been tipped to depart permanently this summer.
In addition there has also been speculation over the future of goalkeepers Andre Onana and Altay Bayindir and 20-year-old midfielder Kobbie Mainoo, who almost 12 months ago was in the England starting XI for the final of the European Championship.
“If a football club sells a player, normally the profit which goes into your PSR calculations is the difference between the sales price and the book value. Without getting too technical the book value is how much you originally pay for the player less how much you have written off to date.
“With an academy player you have not paid anything for the player’s registration so if we look at other clubs and Chelsea in particular, the sales of Conor Gallagher, Fikayo Tomori, Tammy Abraham, Billy Gilmour and Mason Mount – they all came through the academy and when you sell them it is 100% profit.
“In the case of Manchester United they have three players [Rashford, Garnacho and Mainoo] who have been mentioned in media outlets as being possibly for sale and they are going to generate pure profit.
“It is far better [PSR wise] than selling a player who has only been at the club a couple of years and who has underperformed.”
