Man United FFP prediction made as Erik ten Hag warning sent amid transfer 'net spend' reality

Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos have been praised for 'outstanding business' at Manchester United after increasing revenue on the back of a challenging campaign.

Erik Ten Hag's side finished in eighth place in the Premier League, but were able to qualify for the Europa League as a result of winning the FA Cup and should be able to pass PSR without any 'serious threat' of failing to comply with the Premier League regulations.

That's according to Dr Rob Wilson, an expert in the finance, economics and governance of professional team sports, who told Grosvenor Sport: "The Manchester United story is really interesting. Their revenue is up just a little bit after having a particularly bad season last year. To be able to grow revenue off the back of a very challenging season, I think is a fairly outstanding business.

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"United’s pre-tax losses are up, they've lost a little bit more and they've also of course spent a lot more on wages, but what we also saw this summer at United were a huge number of outgoings as a consequence of the new football structure.

"That will have saved a considerable amount of money in terms of wages and if Manchester United are able to capitalise on the FA Cup success and the new playing squad that they have, you would expect to see them in the top six and potentially the top four which could allow them to again gain additional revenues associated with European competition.

"On that basis, I don't think they are currently under any serious threat from failing to comply with profitability and sustainability regulations. As a consequence of post-Covid adjustments and exceptional costs that we've seen associated both with the INEOS investment and also with the interest payments accrued on the loans from the Glazer family, they can actually be deducted from your PSR calculations.

"So while the headline numbers look really, really bad, they should actually comply with the PSR regulations, particularly because of their transfer business over the summer and the number of players that they were able to transfer out, the transfer fees received and therefore the overall net spend as well as the fees for playing being brought in being amortised over the length of their contract.

"So United will be okay in the short term. European competition will make them obviously more compliant in the future. If they are unable to secure that European competition they will have to continue to cut their cloth accordingly.

"I don't think they'll be allowed any further Covid adjustments so that will certainly put an added layer of complexity on the football club this season and really mean that the results that Erik ten Hag and his staff can deliver on the field will this year be more tied to what they can deliver off the field than we've probably seen over the last 15 years or so."