Manchester United take £22m hit from sacking of Ruben Amorim

Manchester United have taken a £22m hit from the sacking of their former manager Ruben Amorim but cut their losses in half thanks to improved performance on the pitch and the cost-cutting zeal of the co-owner Jim Ratcliffe . United’s successful pursuit of Champions League football under Michael Carrick drove a 57% rise in broadcast income during the third quarter of the financial year to nearly £65m, as more of the club’s games were picked for TV. The extra cash helped the club to increase its forecast for full-year revenue to between £655m and £665m, up from £640m-£660m predicted before. Despite the improvement, annual revenue on that scale would almost exactly match 2025, when United fell to an all-time low of eighth in Deloitte’s Football Money League . As well as boosting income, the club has embarked on a ruthless cost-cutting drive since Ratcliffe bought a minority stake in 2024 and took charge of sporting operations. Even as the club spent about £260m on players in 2025-26, the petrochemicals billionaire pressed on with cost cutting that has led to the axing of hundreds of staff, the closure of the staff canteen and the substitution of free lunches with fruit . The result of the cuts has been a £19m decrease in operating expenses for the first nine months of the year, to £525m. The saving was more than offset by the cost of sacking Amorim in January. …