Manchester United are facing a shortfall of at least 20 million pounds if they end the season without a trophy for the first time since 2005.
Manchester United are facing a shortfall of at least pounds 20 million if they end the season without a trophy for the first time since 2005.
United's elimination at the group stage of the Champions League and reduction in earnings from next season's competition, should they fail to win the Premier League on the final day of this campaign, ensure that quarterly accounts due to be published this month will reflect the true cost of the club's most disappointing season under the Glazer family.
With neighbours Manchester City on the brink of securing the club's first league title since 1968, United's attempts to close the gap on their Abu Dhabi-backed rivals are set to be compromised by the huge reduction in prize money due to be deposited into the Old Trafford accounts in comparison to earnings from the 2010-11 campaign.
The inability of the Glazers to successfully launch a pounds 600 million partial flotation of the club on the Singapore Stock Exchange, combined with annual interest payments in excess of pounds 40?million on United's pounds 439 million debt, hints at difficult times ahead in the transfer market.
The situation is likely to hinder Sir Alex Ferguson's attempts to lure at least three new players to Old Trafford to strengthen his squad this summer.
Having banked pounds 45?million in prize money from Uefa last season after reaching the Champions League final against Barcelona at Wembley, United's failure to progress to the knockout stages of this year's competition is expected to cost around pounds 17 million as a result of lost television revenue and gate receipts.
Finishing as Premier League runners-up to City will make little difference to United's domestic earnings, with only a pounds 750,000 downturn anticipated from a second-place finish.
But United will suffer an anticipated pounds 5 million reduction in Champions League earnings next season if City win the league because of Uefa's complex distribution formula. Under the scheme the Premier League champions receive 40% of England's television market share and the runners-up 30%. The third-place team receive 20% and the fourth 10%.
United's fourth-round exit in the FA Cup will also prove detrimental to finances, particularly as Old Trafford did not benefit from hosting an FA Cup tie this season. Twelve months ago, United staged three sell-out televised home ties en route to the semi-final defeat against City.
A silver lining to the Glazers' cloud can be found in the absence of bonus payments this season, while Blackburn will not receive a pounds 2 million one-off bonus as part of Phil Jones's transfer to United last summer if City go on to win the title.
Ferguson, who claimed at the weekend that City's financial muscle had made the transfer market "insane", will be handed money to spend by the Glazers, who have sanctioned a season-ticket price freeze, this summer. But having spent almost pounds 50 million on Jones, David de Gea and Ashley Young last year, United are unlikely to invest a similarly high figure during this close season.
One senior figure at a leading Premier League club claimed privately last week that United had earned the tag of 'nomoney.com' within boardrooms because of their reluctance, or inability, to compete at the top end of the transfer market in recent seasons.
Last summer, United were convinced they would secure a deal for Arsenal's Samir Nasri until City made their move and offered the Frenchman a pounds 170,000-a-week pay deal at the Etihad Stadium, a figure way beyond United's package.
Twelve months on United are likely to be beaten by City again in the race for Lille's Eden Hazard, forcing the club to increase their efforts to drape a cloak of secrecy over transfer targets, to avoid being gazumped by City.
Despite the likelihood of the Premier League trophy leaving Old Trafford for the Etihad later this week, United captain Patrice Evra insists it would be foolish to claim that this season will spark a United decline.
"I know that if we don't win the league, a lot of people will say this is the end of the empire and ask how we will survive," Evra said. "But it's not over yet. We can win this title."
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