Man United land double windfall that gives them new 'financial hope' - Keith Wyness

Manchester United are slowly beginning to chip away at the eye-watering £1.3billion debt that they’ve built up.

That is according to former Everton chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who believes that the money saved from Ruben Amorim’s move to AC Milan is a timely boost.

The Red Devils had been due to pay the Portuguese boss a compensation fee of around £16million after sacking him back in January, but his swift return to work has now reduced that down to the £8m mark.

Wyness is adamant that the windfall is not “transformative” for a club of United’s stature by any means, but noted that it is undoubtedly “welcome” amid their ongoing financial issues.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Co. are working to try to eat into that significant debt that is looming over the club, and the saving on Amorim is a small boost in that regard.

Wyness believes that the windfall will essentially be viewed as “found money” behind the scenes, given how unexpected it was when they pulled the trigger on Amorim.

Everton’s former chief Wyness - who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs - believes that United are finally seeing a “glimmer of hope” in terms of their financial picture.

The Scottish businessman has been very clear over the severity of the issues facing the club in recent months, but believes they are finally working in the right direction.

Speaking on the latest edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, Wyness made it clear that the Red Devils are slowly starting to halt their financial slide.

“It (the Amorim compensation) is handy for them. It's not transformative. But listen, all the money in the United coffers right now is welcome, I think, given the financial situation and the debt they've got,” he said.

“When you start to piece it together with things like the savings on Casemiro’s wages, it all starts to add up to giving them some space. So it's a positive for them.

“But this alone, I think this is something they didn't expect. And so they can count it as found money to a degree. I can start to see that United are getting some sort of breathing room, and they're starting to show signs of cleaning up the mess that they were in before.

“I'm not quite ready to give full credit to Sir Jim Ratcliffe yet, but certainly things look to be, if not turning in the right direction, at least stopping from going downhill further. I do see some glimmers of hope for them on the financial side.”

Wyness told Football Insider last week that United stand to make at least £20m up front from their deal to take part in Amazon’s All or Nothing documentary in 2026-27.

The former boardroom man also noted that at least a further £5m could also be on the table due to viewership-based add-ons.

Wyness also stressed that the documentary will have hugely positive impacts for the club in terms of global brand exposure, which they will reap the rewards from later down the line.

United’s deal with Amazon is already thought to be worth more than those of Arsenal, Tottenham and Manchester City, and they could stand to inadvertently profit from it for years to come.