There are some ‘gains’. Without European football, most players would find themselves on lower wages, potentially by as much as 25%, so expenses should go down.
The club’s 2023-24 accounts showed wages fell £22m (12%) from £185m to £163m, mainly due to lower performance bonuses – and that was a season ending in an eighth-placed league finish, an FA Cup win and Europa League qualification.
Nevertheless, the figure United would miss out on is eye-watering and would be bound to impact on their transfer strategy, on top of reducing the attractiveness of joining the Old Trafford outfit in the first place.
“Champions League can change everything,” said Amorim last month. “If you look at this moment we are not ready to be really competitive in Premier League and cope with Champions League. If you are in Champions League you have a different budget to put a better team for next season.”
Amorim said United had a plan for what would happen if they missed out on Europe, just as chief executive Omar Berrada did last month.
Berrada said they would be “more efficient” and that they were “putting in place various financial measures” that would allow the club to “invest in the summer” even if they did not qualify for Europe.
And this comes with United’s overall debt hovering at about £1bn, including £331m in outstanding transfer fee payments, something minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe mentioned in his interview with BBC Sports Editor Dan Roan in March.
It would heighten an already worrying financial picture for a club that somehow has to try to navigate a way back into contention at the top end of the Premier League.
In March, Ratcliffe said the club would have gone “bust” by the end of the year if significant action had not been taken.
United’s losses over the past five years total more than £370m.
In order to stem the tide, the club have made 250 staff redundant and another 200 could lose their jobs in a second round of cuts announced earlier this year.
United’s second quarter revenues to 31 December 2024 dropped by 12%, with the club spending £14.5m to sack manager Erik ten Hag, his staff and former sporting director Dan Ashworth.
At the same time, United have unveiled plans to build a £2bn stadium, but have not specified how they will pay for this.
Ratcliffe assured fans in March the club would remain compliant with the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability rules.
But the sobering reality of anything other than Europa League glory in May would make an already tough task to turn United around even harder.
