Manchester United's Net Debt Reaches IDR 16.6 Trillion After The Summer Transfer Market

JAKARTA - Manchester United's net debt has crossed the $1 billion mark for the first time due to a summer loan for player recruitment. The club's total debt has reached its highest level since the takeover by the Glazer family in 2005.

In the club's first-quarter financial report published Thursday, December 11, 2025, Manchester United's long-term loan - a pile of debts built since the takeover by the Glazer family - was reported at 481 million pounds (approximately Rp10.7 trillion).

However, with Manchester United using an additional 105 million pounds (approximately IDR 2.3 trillion) from the revolving credit facility - an additional loan mechanism - so that their total loan becomes 268 million pounds (approximately IDR 5.9 trillion). Manchester United's total net debt has increased to 749 million pounds (IDR 16.6 trillion).

Manchester United have paid off their big debt since the Glazer family, owner of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers NFL franchise, bought the previously debt-free club 20 years ago.

The Ineos group, led by Britain's richest man, Sir Jim Radcliffe, became the minority owner in February 2024 after acquiring 27.7 percent of the club's shares in the deal worth 1.3 billion pounds (approximately IDR 28.9 trillion).

Since then, Ratcliffe and Ineos have made efforts to reduce costs at Old Trafford aimed at making clubs more sustainable.

Despite surpassing billions of dollars in debt for the first time, Manchester United CEO Omar Berrada said recent financial results showed they were making significant progress in the club's transformation.

The Red Devils did not play in European tournaments this season, but reported an operating profit of 13 million pounds (approximately IDR 289.6 billion) for the first three months of the season, after suffering a loss of 6.9 million pounds (approximately IDR 153 billion) in the same period last season.

Manchester United's total revenue for that period fell 2 percent to 140.3 million pounds (approximately IDR 3.1 trillion) due to the absence of a continental tournament.

"This strong financial result reflects Manchester United's resilience as we make significant progress in the club's transformation."

"The tough decisions we've made in the past year have resulted in a sustainable lower cost base as well as more efficient and effective organization, which is ready to push clubs towards improving sports and commercial performance in the long term."

"This has helped us invest in our men's and women's teams, each in sixth and third positions in the Premier League and Super League (WSL)," Berrada said.

The financial report states that Manchester United continues to feel the impact of the program to reduce operational costs and the number of employees implemented during the previous year.

Ineos oversees a large-scale employee reduction scheme, which is part of a broader club operation restructuring that accounts for 8.6 million pounds (approximately IDR 191.6 billion) in an extraordinary post in the first quarter of fiscal year 2026.

The program, along with a reduction in player salaries, caused employee allowance spending for the quarter to decrease by 6.6 million pounds (approximately IDR 147 billion) compared to 73.6 million pounds in the previous year (approximately IDR 1.6 trillion).

Manchester United's sponsorship revenue has fallen by 9.3 percent to 47 million pounds, mostly due to lack of training equipment, after the deal with Tezos expired.

The Red Devils said they remained on track to record revenues of between 640 million pounds and 660 million pounds (approximately IDR 14.2-14.7 trillion).