United target trophies as revenue hits record high
Pochettino won’t let Spurs moan about stadium woe
LONDON, Sept 25, (AFP): Manchester United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward underlined the club’s hunger for silverware on Tuesday after announcing record-breaking revenues.
United, under manager Jose Mourinho, are seventh in the Premier League after a disappointing start to the season, eight points behind leaders Liverpool and six behind reigning champions Manchester City.
The club have not won the Premier League since 2013, under former boss Alex Ferguson.
United, who have been top of the Deloitte Football Money League for two successive years, brought in £590 million ($776 million) in the year ending June 30 2018 – a rise of just 1.5 per cent on the previous year.
But the expectation is for revenue to rise to between £615 million and £630 million over the coming financial year.
“Everyone at the club is working tirelessly to add to Manchester United’s 66 and Jose’s 25 trophies,” Woodward said. “That is what our passionate fans and our history demands.
“We are committed to our philosophy of blending top academy graduates with world-class players and are proud that, once again, last season we had more academy graduate minutes on the pitch than any other Premier League club.
“Our increased revenue expectation for the year demonstrates our continued strong long-term financial performance which underpins everything we do and allows us to compete for top talent in an increasingly competitive transfer market.” Manchester City earlier this month posted record revenues of £500.5 million following their record-breaking season.
United’s annual accounts reveal that the Old Trafford giants paid employees £295.9 million in fiscal 2018 – a hike of £32.4 million over the previous year.
The club said the increase was “primarily due to player salary uplifts related to participation in the UEFA Champions League” but Alexis Sanchez’s January arrival will also have made an impact.
United saw operating profits drop by 45.4 per cent to £44.1 million. That was largely due to the United States’ federal corporate income tax rate being reduced from 35 per cent to 21 per cent.
Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) were £177.1 million, down from £199.8 million the previous year.
Mauricio Pochettino has warned his Tottenham stars not to use the club’s delayed new stadium as an excuse for their spluttering start to the season.
Pochettino’s side have been forced to play their League Cup third round tie against Watford on Wednesday in Milton Keynes due to the on-going problems with the rebuilding of White Hart Lane.
Tottenham had hoped to open their redeveloped stadium this
Egypt’s Mohamed Salah receives the FIFA Puskas Award during the ceremony of the Best FIFA Football Awards in the Royal Festival Hall in London, Britain on Sept 24. (AP)
season, but safety issues have severely delayed the project, meaning the north London club have returned to playing their home games at Wembley.
With Wembley not ready to host a football match this week after the Anthony Joshua boxing bout on Saturday, Tottenham arranged to play as the ‘home’ team against Watford in Milton Keynes.
It is not an ideal situation, especially as Tottenham have played only two home games all season, but Pochettino is adamant that shouldn’t be used as an excuse for the team’s inconsistent performances.
“If there is one thing I didn’t want it is to give reason to the players to say, ‘If we don’t win it’s because of Milton Keynes, it’s because we don’t play at our stadium, it’s because we play at Wembley’,” he said.
“I understand that it is not the same as playing in your home and the help from our fans will be fantastic in our new stadium and the energy is different playing in MK than your own stadium.
“That is our responsibility, it is not to blame the venue or the fans or the chairman. I try to avoid the players finding excuses.” Tottenham should have settled into their new 62,000-seater stadium by now, had it not been delayed after failures to the alarm systems.
Argentine coach Pochettino admits it is a frustrating situation, but he doesn’t want unhappy fans to create a negative atmosphere while the delay drags on.
“I am the first that would like to finish the new stadium. If I have to go to work after training and help the builders finish the stadium as soon as possible so the fans will be happy, and all the players will be happy and the chairman will be happy, I promise I (will) go,” he said.
“Of course we feel disappointed for our fans but they need to understand that is a venue for the rest of our lives and for the next generations and years and years and it is so important to finish (it) in the right way.
“Maybe one or two months means a lot but in the end it is no time because the most important thing is to finish and in the future have a venue that is going to help us win trophies.”