Manchester United & Michael Carrick: Air of inevitability around manager’s future but owners’ problems far bigger

The debt they initially landed on the club has now grown to over £1.15bn, according to their latest accounts. The amount it has cost in interest is £852m, according to respected football finance blogger Swiss Ramble. In the last financial year, the interest payment was £37m, an increase from £34m the previous year.

The argument is, that money could have been used far more productively to sign better players.

There had been hope Ratcliffe, a boyhood United fan, would change that when he struck a deal with the Glazers to become a minority shareholder on Christmas Eve 2023.

Instead, a succession of decisions have led to major questions over his handling of the club.

On the management side, United’s hierarchy eventually backed Erik ten Hag after talking with alternatives in the wake of the shock 2024 FA Cup final triumph over Manchester City, spending over £200m on the likes of Leny Yoro, Matthijs de Ligt and Manuel Ugarte.

Last week, Ten Hag told the Athletic, external the club went back on a promise not to sell homegrown Scotland international Scott McTominay to fund Ugarte’s £50m move from Paris St-Germain. They sacked the Dutchman in October 2024.

After that they persuaded Ruben Amorim to leave Sporting mid-season, when he wanted to wait until the summer.

They stuck with him after an unprecedented 15th-place finish, and again after United lost to League Two Grimsby in the EFL Cup, then sacked him in January when he clashed with director of football Jason Wilcox over playing style.

That led to Carrick’s arrival to the end of the season, which turned into a permanent appointment after he guided the club back into the Champions League after a two-year absence.

A third dismissal in three seasons would not reflect well on anyone.

The ‘Standards’ banner that was held up on the Stretford End showing the images of legendary skippers Bryan Robson, Eric Cantona and Roy Keane was there to remind the executives running the club of the history they should be aspiring to.