Man United FFP truth explained with £10m reality and Marcus Rashford transfer impact

Manchester United face a busy summer transfer window as Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his Ineos group begin to rebuild the club's first team.

Erik ten Hag's side endured a poor 2023/24 campaign after finishing eighth in the Premier League, their lowest top-flight finish since 1989/90. Ten Hag's team also crashed out of the Champions League at the group stage although May's FA Cup final win ended the season on a high.

One careful consideration that has to be made by United is their Financial Fair Play (FFP) situation with the league's Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) set to play a key role in the summer window. Current rules state clubs are only allowed to lose £105m across a rolling three-year period, or £35m each season.

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And Chief Business of Football Writer for Reach PLC Dave Powell has offered his analysis of United's current PSR situation and whether it will affect any incomings at Old Trafford this summer.

"While it is almost impossible to draw exact conclusions as to what Manchester United’s PSR position will be, previous financial years and some estimates when it comes to financial forecasting for the current financial year, which ends June 30, mean that a picture can be painted of the kind of room the club has," he said.

“When it comes to PSR headroom the likes of Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City, Liverpool, Brentford, Brighton & Hove Albion and West Ham United are the clubs with the most breathing space, into the hundreds of millions of pounds.

“United’s position is different. They aren’t in the position of having to sell to be compliant, but given that estimates place the club’s PSR headroom at being less than £10m, there is a requirement for them to engage in strong player trading this summer so that they can invest to a greater extent in the team.

“But given that they don’t need to move players on before June 30 to avoid any PSR issue, they don’t have to rush to complete business. The club have been poor at generating player trading profit when compared to their rivals in recent years, something that has led them to have a comparatively poor PSR position

"But with potential sales of the likes of Marcus Rashford, who would represent pure profit if sold, they have the ability to improve their position considerably over the next few months, while still able to absorb transfer spend, which is amortised over the life of a contract.”