The reason why Man United are able to afford £74m Sesko revealed

The Red Devils made a big money bid for the striker this week 

The £74 million offer for Sesko is only the latest move in a summer that has seen United spend more than £120 million on Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo. 

This is all on the back of one of the worst domestic campaigns the club have endured this century, as they finished 15th in the Premier League. 

They have also so far failed to sanction any sales of first-team players. 

In March, the club’s co-owner Jim Ratcliffe justified the move to make major redundancies — as well as another decision to cut free lunches for staff members—  by saying that unless drastic action was taken, the club would have faced closure by Christmas. 

So, how are the Red Devils now in a position to spend hundreds of millions on new players? The truth is a lot simpler than expected. 

According to a football finance expert, United have been able to move so freely in the market for two reasons. 

Their financial difficulties were slightly exaggerated, and the club have made use of some clever financial accounting with their new signings. 

Much like the reason why Sesko chose to sign for the Red Devils over fellow suitors Newcastle, it all boils down to the fact that no matter how bad their performances on the pitch, United are too big a football institution to fail. 

Kieran Maguire told BBC Sport: “If Manchester United sneeze, football catches a cold.

“It is the biggest brand in English football. The redundancies do look severe, but that is the Ineos business model, they have done that at other companies. Whether it will work in football, we have to wait and see.

"Some of the scare stories put about a few months ago were perhaps a bit overblown.

"Man Utd is not as successful as a business as they would like to be, but they are still successful. For example their wage bill is around half of their income, which is very good by Premier League standards.” 

The numbers that matter 

The deal to sign Matheus Cunha was finalised before the club’s June 30 year-end, meaning his £71.3m transfer fee fell into the previous year’s accounts. 

Then, despite not making any official sales this summer, United have brought in revenue elsewhere. 

Barcelona are paying all of Marcus Rashford’s hefty £350,000 a week wages during his year-long loan move to the Catalan side.

United also received reward money (£5.90m) for reaching the Europa League final, made £5 million after Chelsea broke a clause in their agreement to sign Jason Sancho, and brought in £15 million via sell-clauses from deals that involved ex-players Anthony Elanga, Alvaro Carreras and Maxi Oyedele.

It is also likely that no matter how bad the situation becomes at Old Trafford, according to Ratcliffe, the new Ineos ownership will always prioritise investing in transfer fees.

He has said: “What we want to do is invest in the best players in the world if we can, rather than spend it on, I'm afraid, free lunches."

While the club are now in a decent position, they still made a loss of £131 million in the 2023/24 financial year, meaning they would have to make significant sales if they what to spend more after the Sesko deal is finalised.