Hey everyone,

Ski season is almost starting. And soon I will be in those mountains.

I’m looking forward to being back on the slopes, mostly because it’s one of the only places where my mind shuts off, as all I can think about is not breaking my legs.
(Yes, you get it. I’m terrible at skiing.)

But let’s get back to Contemporary Football.

And to Manchester United’s Q1 financials for the 2025/26 season.

United posted a £6.6m loss for the first quarter.
Last year, same period: £1.4m profit.

So, yes… technically, they’re still in the red.

But here’s the good news for our Red Devils pals:

• Adjusted EBITDA: £26.9m (up from £23.7m)
• Operating profit: £13m (last year it was a £6.9m loss)
• Commercial revenue: slightly down, but retail up 11%
• Matchday + Broadcasting: basically stable

The engine is improving, even if the final line is still negative.

A big part of this is the cost base.

Personnel expenses are down 8.2%.
Benefits and operational overheads are lighter.
The club describes itself as “leaner and more effective”.

This is exactly what Sir Jim Ratcliffe has been preaching since day one.

Cut the fat.
Build a real structure.
Remove the noise.

It doesn’t show up instantly in the profit line… but it shows up in the operating numbers.

PS:

It’s never nice to talk about layoffs. I don’t like it.
But here we’re discussing club numbers, not our friends who lost their jobs at United.
To them, I genuinely wish all the best for 2026.

Not everything is moving in the right direction.

Liquidity is down to £80.5m from £149.6m a year ago.
Net financial costs jumped to £21.4m, mainly due to currency swings on USD loans.
Revenues dipped slightly to £140.3m from £143.1m.

This is the part fans rarely see.
Turning a club around is not a Hollywood montage.

It’s slow, boring, methodical work.

United still expects £640–660m in revenue for FY26.

These are solid numbers.
Not magical.
Not catastrophic.

Just… stable.

And stability is exactly what United has been missing for more than a decade.

I want to start ending some newsletters with this section.

Call it a small experiment.

Let’s judge United’s moves.

So what’s the verdict?

Manchester United is in transition.
Not fully contemporary yet.
But clearly moving away from old habits.

That’s already more than many big clubs manage to do.

The first quarter doesn’t tell you if the rebuild will succeed.

But it does tell you this:

United today looks like a club with a plan.
A financial one, not just a sporting one.

Cuts are working.
Processes are tightening.
The organisation is becoming sharper.

There’s still distance to cover.
But the numbers don’t feel random.

Manchester United’s numbers don’t tell a story of collapse.
They tell a story of transition.

Cost cuts are working.
The organisation is becoming leaner.

But scale matters.
When you are this big, improvements don’t show up immediately in profit.

They show up first in structure, then in discipline, and only later in results.

This is the part many clubs misunderstand.

You can’t fix a decade of inefficiency in one season.

You can only decide whether you’re finally willing to absorb the pain of fixing it.

United looks like a club that has started that process.
Not finished it.

Just started.

When you look at what United are doing, do you think the club is actually on the right path or are these just temporary improvements?

I’m curious to hear your view.

See you tomorrow for the last issue of 2025!

Federico