Ineos deserve a lot of credit for their decisions at Man Utd, but the best one financially is one they stumbled upon, to the tune of at least £122.5m profit.
It is no secret that Ineos took over a club that was leaking cash and flailing under the burden of the Glazers’ mismanagement.
In a little over two years, they’ve got the arrows pointing up again in financial results, despite the on-pitch success eluding them so far.
United in Focus can now reveal that the biggest boost is yet to show in the results, and it’s because of a decision Ineos stumbled upon.
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Ineos stumbled upon replacing Ruben Amorim with Michael Carrick
It’s well known that Ineos didn’t want to sack Ruben Amorim. Ultimately, Amorim sacked Amorim because of the way he blew up on everyone publicly.
From that moment onwards, it was clear that Ineos’ plan had gone out the window, and they were taking dynamic decisions.
First, Amorim was never meant to be sacked. Then, Michael Carrick was never meant to become the permanent Man Utd manager.
Both of those decisions were taken out of the hierarchy’s hands by the respective man’s actions, so while they do deserve credit for pulling the trigger, there wasn’t much choice in either.
In the end, they stumbled upon this decision despite trying their best not to.
United in Focus spoke to GRV Media’s Head of Football Finance and Governance, Adam Williams, and he explains that this has already led to a minimum of £122.5m boost to United’s finances, and the ceiling is easily worth thrice that.
Explained: Boost from hiring Carrick
Williams explained that between improving United’s league position from 15th last season to 3rd this season, qualifying for the Champions League, and the potential avenues that opens up, United are looking at a minimum boost of at least £122.5m.
Here are the key details before delving into the explanation:
–> Merit payments (league position) – £45m
–> UCL participation income – £47.5m
–> UCL home games (min of 4) – More than £20m
–> Adidas UCL participation fee – £10m
*Ceiling up to £300m based on progression in UCL, participation in Super Cup and Club World Cup.
He explained: “The easiest to work out is performance in the Premier League table and, thereafter, qualification for the Champions League. United were 15th last season; they finished this season in 3rd. That’s 12 places. In 2024-25, that would have been worth about £31.2m, because it was £2.6m per place. But in 2025-26, we had a new domestic TV deal as well as new central commercial deals, so the final amount will have increased.
“I’ve read the excellent analysis by Chris Weatherspoon, who estimates that the merit payments per position in 2025-26 at £3.76m. So going from 15th to 3rd would be worth £45m on that basis.
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“Now, when you’re estimating European income, your upside is virtually limitless. United could – entirely theoretically – earn £200m in the Champions League, qualify for the Champions League the following season, the UEFA Super Cup and the Club World Cup and virtually guarantee another £300m as a result.
“United’s UEFA coefficient has suffered a little recently, but they will still earn about £47.5m before a ball is even kicked in the Champions League next term. On top of that, you’re inevitably going to more or less sell out Old Trafford on at least four occasions at an average of £5-6m per game. That’s at least another £20m in revenue there. You’ve also got a £10m bonus from Adidas.
“So, all in all, I think you can say that the rise post-Carrick’s appointment was worth about £122.5m. We could also talk about other commercial benefits, the impact on recruitment, maybe even having more paid televised matches because of the jeopardy of the Champions League race and so on, but I think that £122.5m is a good starting point.”
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