12/06/2026
United Refinances Debt – But the Cost to the Club Keeps Rising
Today the club announced that it has refinanced a major element of its debt by issuing $550m of new bonds. What does that mean for the club's finances, transfer plans and future spending? MUST’s Finance Director, Andy Green, takes a closer look at the latest refinancing deal and the continuing cost of debt at Manchester United.
The football world may be focused on the World Cup, but Manchester United have been busy elsewhere in North America, on Wall Street. Today the club announced that it has refinanced a major element of its debt by issuing $550m of new bonds repayable in 2031 to a variety of banks and investment funds. Most of the proceeds will be used to repay $425m of the club's existing bonds. This had to happen at some point in the next few months as the current bonds were up for repayment in June 2027, something MUST raised in our first meeting with Sir Jim Ratcliffe back in early 2024.
Unfortunately for the club interest rates are higher now than they were when the current bonds were issued. The rate has increased from 3.75% to 5.36% and this will cost the club a further c. £10 million per year in interest.
As well as refinancing the existing bonds, by raising $550m, United has taken the opportunity to bolster the cash on the club's balance sheet. It's not clear at this stage how these additional funds will be used, but we expect that a major element will go on paying some of the huge amount United owes other clubs for player acquisitions over the last few years. This transfer debt totals £360m of which a staggering £209m is due in the next 12 months.
United's debt and the £1bn cumulative cost of servicing it have been tragic features of the club over more than two decades since the Glazer family borrowed against the club purely to fund their acquisition of it, but more recent mismanagement has also contributed. Supporters are only too aware of the many unsuccessful signings over the years since Sir Alex's retirement, something that thankfully seems to have stopped last season, but the club has also, in the space of only two years, burned through £27.1m firing unsuccessful managers and their staff.
Since Michael Carrick and the team turned things around last season and got us back into the Champions League, United's finances have started to look a lot more robust. The TV money from Europe's top club competition together with the extra games that come with qualification will all help profits and cash grow next season.
Supporters should however be in no doubt that at c. £50m a year in interest the debt remains a significant cost to Manchester United diverting resources away from the football club. More than twenty years after their leveraged takeover, supporters are still paying the price for the Glazer family's ownership and a succession of poor decisions by those they put in charge of our club.