Man Utd transfer budget: Ratcliffe to be ‘severely squeezed’ following £555m ‘splurge’

Sir Jim Ratcliffe may not be able to spend big this summer

New Man Utd co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe will be unable to spend big in the summer transfer window because of FFP concerns, according to reports.

The Football Association approved Ratcliffe’s purchase of a 25 per cent stake in the Premier League club last week.

Confirmation that the Premier League had given its backing to the deal was contained within an update to the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 12.

A further SEC update has now revealed that approval from the FA has also been obtained as completion edges closer.

Within an amended tender offer statement published on Wednesday afternoon came confirmation that the national governing body’s approval “has already been obtained”.

The green light from the FA is one of the last remaining steps but the deal cannot be completed until the tender offer for Class A shares is finalised.

The period in which holders of Class A shares can tender them for sale has been extended from February 14 until 23:59 on February 16.

It is understood that completion of the deal is unlikely to immediately follow the closure of the tender offer but looks likely to come this week at some point.

There was hope amongst fans that the arrival of Ratcliffe would provide them with a sizeable amount of money to bring in a number of players in the summer and help Erik ten Hag take the club to the next level.

However, the Daily Telegraph‘s James Ducker insists that the Red Devils’ ‘first summer transfer budget under Sir Jim Ratcliffe will be severely squeezed by financial fair play restrictions – and take an even bigger hit if the club fail to qualify for the Champions League’.

The club’s £555m ‘splurge’ over their last three summer transfer windows and their difficulties in offloading any saleable assets for big sums means Ratcliffe and his INEOS team have ‘little financial headroom’ to ‘do a City’.

That is why qualification for the Champions League is so important this season with their budget set to ‘diminish further’ if Ten Hag can’t secure a top-four finish.

Ducker adds:

‘Ten Hag’s £420 million splurge in the previous two summers on players such as Rasmus Hojlund, Casemiro and Antony, combined with the £135 million outlay in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s final summer on Jadon Sancho, Raphael Varane and Cristiano Ronaldo, have contributed to United’s total pre-tax losses of £215 million over that period.

‘Under the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules, clubs are allowed maximum losses of £105 million over a three-year period.

‘Although United will be able to make significant deductions for Covid losses, the academy, women’s team and community projects, the losses present serious challenges going forward and place significant constraints on what the club can spend.’

And a source has made the situation at Man Utd clear to the Daily Telegraph, they said: “You can’t do it overnight because of FFP and the fact the club have put themselves in a very tough financial position.

“You can’t buy your way out of it. You can’t do a City because there’s no headroom. You can dress things up, invest in infrastructure – you spend as much as you want on the stadium. But when it comes to the squad that’s going to take time and funding.

“Clearly restructuring the squad has to be a key part of your agenda but you’re tied down by FFP so it’s a steady process.”