Sir Jim Ratcliffe's controversial cost-cutting laid bare in financial results as Manchester United undergo 'transformation'

Sir Jim Ratcliffe has made a number of controversial decisions since becoming co-owner of Manchester United.

In less than two years, the INEOS founder has made roughly 450 redundancies, ended the ambassadorial role held by legendary former manager Sir Alex Ferguson and cut free lunches for United staff.

Ratcliffe has attracted plenty of criticism as a result - not helped by the team's performances on the pitch, with Ruben Amorim's side slumping to 15th last term, the club's worst league finish since 1973/74

Manchester United cost-cutting reflected in financial results

While Ratcliffe has not always been the most popular member of the Old Trafford hierarchy, figures at United believe his cost-cutting measures are already starting to bear fruit.

This is underlined by the club's financial results, which cover the first three months of the new financial year.

Among the headline figures, United reported an operating profit of £13million compared to an operating loss of £7m for the same period last year.

Total revenue fell slightly, from £143.1m to £140.3m, although the club are predicting total revenues for the year of between £640m and £660m - putting them close to the record revenue of £666.5m they reported in 2024-25.

Chief executive officer Omar Berrada said: 'These robust financial results reflect the resilience of Manchester United as we make strong progress in our transformation of the club.

'The difficult decisions we have made in the past year have resulted in a sustainably lower cost base and a more streamlined, effective organisation equipped to drive the club towards improved sporting and commercial performance over the long-term.

'That has helped us to invest in our men's and women's teams, sitting in sixth and third places in the Premier League and Women's Super League respectively.'

On the pitch, United have started this season better than they ended the last one, with Amorim's side sixth in the Premier League, one point behind fourth-place Crystal Palace.

They were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by League Two side Grimsby Town, though, leaving the FA Cup as their only realistic chance of a trophy with no European football this season.

You would expect the absence of continental competition to impact United's revenues and the club will be desperate to return to Europe in 2026/27.