United's cash reserves are entirely funded by debt. They publish their interim reports quarterly. In the last quarter they had to draw down £60m of their revolving credit facility.
That is almost a quarter of a billion pounds per year. They also have credit notes with an average repayment date of 2025 that amount to £455m.
Amidst that horrific background they still have to pay shareholders a dividend.
Yes fair point. Are we saying the 300m or so cash reserves that wasnt singularly debt have been used up over the last 18 months?
The broader point you make is a really good one too, and why turnover as a singular metric is limited. Their turnover is fantastic, and has been for well over 20 years, but given the debt repayments due you do wonder if eventually it will catch them out?
I completely understand that the discourse around football is that these things dont matter. Debt, profit etc have no relevance and only turnover does. To me that's like saying you dont believe in gravity because some experts tell it doesnt matter. In the end, over longer periods once the hype subsides, key fundamentals win out.
I'm not saying its inevitable United (or Liverpool) get caught out, but it's also not inevitable they just keep going for the next 20 years. There comes a saturation point in most sectors where you monetise what you can, and turnover growth becomes far less important. I do wonder if football is close to that point (if it is unable to really conquer the US market)?