UEFA have brutally exposed Manchester United’s transfer mistakes through a staggering net-spend figure in comparison to Chelsea and Arsenal

Manchester United are the highest net-spenders for transfers in Europe over the last five years, a UEFA report, via The Telegraph has revealed. Their European Club Finance and Investment Landscape assessment has also highlighted the financial dominance of the Premier League in comparison to other major divisions.

That was particularly evidenced by the increase in television revenue to €1.5bn (£1.3bn) for English clubs. That staggering figure very nearly amounted to the €1.6bn (£1.4bn) that 53 other European top-division leagues received combined.

Despite taking a share of that major financial boost, United’s specific failures have also been exposed by UEFA with £692million emerging as their net-spend on transfers between 2021-2025. Major losses on the likes of Antony and Paul Pogba have undoubtedly impacted that even with other Premier League club’s spending more.

The likes of Chelsea and Arsenal have parted ways with big transfer fees over the five-year period accounted for but see £656m and £587m, respectively, as their net-spends. England’s financial dominance has also been shown on the pitch with six teams in the last-16 of this season’s Champions League.

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For UEFA to publicise their finds, a review into financial accounts from 2021 to 2025 was undertaken. That resulted in the impact of all transfer activity across the five years being covered, including profits on sale, amortisation from previous transfers and impairments.

In the report, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said: “After a decade that included one of the toughest periods our sport and our society have faced, European football has come through in a strong position. Club revenues have grown steadily across the board, and top-division income is expected to pass €30bn in the 2025 financial year.”

There have been some financial positives for United recently though, with their latest accounts showing an operating profit of £32.6million recorded for the first six months of the fiscal year.

In comparison to the £3.9m loss reported during the same period in the prior year, that is quite the boost with those improvements driven by strategic cost-management initiatives sanctioned by Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

It looked set to be a challenging financial period for United without the addition of European football and the huge funding that comes with it, but that has clearly not entirely been the case.

There has however, been an unsurprising downturn in commercial and matchday revenue because of less games with the club just over £9million down.

United CEO Omar Berrada said: “We are now seeing the positive financial impact of our off-pitch transformation materialise both in our costs and profitability. We continue to take a football first approach and invest in both our men’s and women’s first teams.

“On the pitch our men’s team sits fourth in the Premier League and our women’s team are second in the Women’s Super League, as well as reaching the League Cup final and the quarter-final of the UEFA Women’s Champions League.

“Today’s results demonstrate the underlying strength of our business as we continue to push for the best football results possible for our men’s and women’s teams.”

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