Keith Wyness reveals Man United's chances of pulling off big signings when stadium build begins
Manchester United fans can expect to see the club’s spending on the squad noticeably diminish when they begin building their planned new stadium.
That is according to former Everton chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who believes that the Red Devils are caught in a “paradox” over their planned move away from Old Trafford.
The Manchester giants already have plans in place for a 100,000-seater stadium, and are hoping to potentially have it ready in time for the 2035 Women’s World Cup, despite the club facing over £1billion of debt right now.
Wyness pointed out that Michael Carrick’s side are currently the Premier League club who need a new ground the most, but are also the club who are furthest away from being able to afford it.
United are already having to keep a very close eye on their spending, and their stadium project will only make their debt worse in the coming years.
Wyness believes that if the team were to miss out on Champions League football on a couple of occasions during the building work, then the club’s financial situation may get particularly precarious.
Man United set for Emirates Stadium-style repeat
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 likely to face a similar situation to the one which Arsenal experienced in the years after they built the Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners moved into their current home back in 2006, and Wyness outlined that they were forced to rein in their spending on their squad for several years afterwards.
Speaking on the latest edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, he explained the issues that are likely to arise for United as their stadium project progresses.
“I would call it the Man United paradox because it’s the club that probably needs a stadium the most, and it’s probably the club that can least afford it given the present situation,” he said.
“You could say that the stadium debt would be good debt because it’s put into use for a cash-earning asset for the future rather than just spending it on players that you may not get a return on. So from that point of view, it’s okay.
“But if you were to go back and ask the Arsenal fans what it was like after 2006, when they had built the Emirates and they saw the very tight restrictions on adding to the squad, at the time it was pretty hard going and for United it would be very tough.
“They’ll probably just about get away with it, but if they were to miss the Champions League in, say, two or three years when they’re building the stadium, then the banks may start picking the team, because it’ll be that close on the financial side going forward.”
Man United to repeat scheme that could earn £131m
Wyness previously told Football Insider earlier this week that United will find as many ways to repeat their recent pitch scale scheme as possible in the coming months.
The club had their pitch relayed in the summer, and recently sold small chunks of their old playing surface for £125 each.
Former Manchester City financial advisor Stefan Borson told Football Insider that the Red Devils could stand to earn up to £131million from the scheme, which will only help to eat into their debt.
With that debt having grown exponentially in recent years, Wyness believes that fans can expect many more schemes in similar style to the pitch sale to follow.
