Did Sir Jim Ratcliffe lie about Man Utd job cuts? 'Bust by Christmas' claim 'debunked' after club announce plans for new £2bn stadium

Sir Jim Ratcliffe claimed that United could go "bust by Christmas" as he attempted to rationalise swingeing cuts, that have seen a multitude of the Red Devils' staff members lose their jobs. However, that claim has now been placed into doubt, especially within the context of the announcement of a new stadium.

Kieran Maguire, a finance expert who works for the University of Liverpool, said that the Red Devils had actually forecast a profit of up to £160 million ($207m) before Ratcliffe's cuts took hold. It is true that United have made losses of over £400m ($518m), and also owe over £300m ($388m) in outstanding transfer fees. Maguire, though, contends that multiple clubs face similar problems.

Maguire told the Telegraph, after calling Ratcliffe's claims 'very disingenuous': "If you go to Manchester United Investor Relations, you’ll see this prediction of the upper end of £140 million-£160 million of EBITDA profit for the financial year 2024-25. So, that would indicate that they’re probably not too worried about a cash-flow issue."

He added: "Every single club buys players on credit. So, Manchester United are not alone in that. They certainly owe less than Chelsea and you don’t see Chelsea announcing 400 job losses. For a company that’s floated on the New York Stock Exchange, that’s quite an inflammatory comment. To me, it’s incredibly unprofessional. If you take a look at the share price last night, it dipped. Not significantly. But you would think that somebody who is used to running a business would be aware of coming out with market-sensitive comments like that."

On the pitch, United play Real Sociedad in the Europa League last-16 on Thursday. The tie is poised at 1-1 from the first leg.