Has United’s debt has restricted the club’s spending power?
Questions about that issue were raised at the Fans Forum at the end of June and respected finance blogger Swiss Ramble estimated in September 2025 that United had paid £852m in interest alone since the Glazer family’s takeover in 2005.
The club’s latest quarterly figures showed total borrowings of £1.29bn, including outstanding transfer fees.
United also took on an additional £91.92m when refinancing bonds in June and are yet to outline how they will fund a proposed new stadium expected to cost more than £2bn.
The club’s full year accounts to 30 June are due out in the next few weeks and will show the latest picture after a season without any European football.
Against that backdrop, fans continue to protest against the Glazers at virtually every match. Yet chief executive Omar Berrada insists the club can remain competitive while managing its debt and stadium ambitions, arguing United’s challenge is to operate sustainably while continuing to compete for major trophies.
“We have shown that with debt, we can not only [be] profitable, but more importantly, win trophies,” Berrada told the club’s Fans Forum on 30 July,. “And our aim is to do that again.
“Our role as management is to be able to operate competitively with a financial structure that’s sustainable.
“We also aspire to build a new stadium, but we have to do it in a way that allows us to continue being competitive.
“We need to stay very disciplined and continue to take the right decisions on the pitch and put us in a position where we can do everything, where we can sustain the debt, aspire to build a new stadium and importantly, try to win as many trophies as we can.”
The arrivals of Baleba, Andrey Santos from Chelsea and Youri Tielemans from Aston Villa, plus the emergence of 19-year-old forward Shea Lacey leads Carrick to conclude his squad is in a better position now than when they ended last season, when they finished third after winning 12 of his 17 games in charge.
“Being at this club, you’ve got to strive to win,” said Carrick.
“That’s where we want to be, and we want to try and get to that on a consistent level.
“I don’t like to keep looking back, but they know what it’s taken to put that run together. Granted, there was one competition, and we need to do that an awful lot more this season, but we have strengthened the group, so we feel good about what’s possible.”
Whether that optimism is justified will become clearer over the coming months, but Carrick believes United have assembled a squad capable of challenging despite spending significantly less than many of their rivals.
