Manchester United CEO Omar Berrada has made a bold statement after confirming new job cuts.
The first year under Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s ownership has been a bumpy ride for Manchester United with far more lows than highs.
Since taking charge at Old Trafford, the British billionaire immediately began implementing cost-cutting measures – something that was deemed necessary after the lack of care under the Glazer family.
Back in July, Ratcliffe cut 250 jobs at United after judging that the workforce was bloated. At the time, United had 1,112 members which was by far the highest of any Premier League side. Manchester City operate with a base of just 520 employees.
Cost-cutting was expected following the takeover, but Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s decisions quickly went from looking sensible to outright ludicrous. Ticket price rises angered fans while staff have complained about the day-to-day restrictions they are now under.
A report from The Telegraph even claimed staff have been forced to individually count items such as screws to make sure there is no excess spending.
Man United confirm new job cuts under Ineos
The sweeping changes made by Ineos at Old Trafford could prove costly with commercial partners threatening United that they could end their deals.
But making United profitable is on the forefront of Ratcliffe’s mind, and even after cutting 250 jobs in July, more redundancies have now been confirmed.
United published a club statement on Monday afternoon confirming a new “transformation plan”.
Within that statement, United confirmed that “additional measures” will be taken to transform the corporate structure of the club to try and end five successive years of losses dating back to 2019.
The club confirmed that approximately 150-200 more jobs will be made redundant in an attempt to cut costs.
The last round of job cuts saved United around £10m per year, which was less than the £14.5m spent by Ineos sacking Erik ten Hag and Dan Ashworth.
Omar Berrada’s strong stance on Man United job cuts
Alongside confirmation of new job cuts in the “transformation plan”, United CEO Omar Berrada published some strongly-worded comments.
He said: “We have a responsibility to put Manchester United in the strongest position to win across our men’s, women’s and academy teams. We are initiating a wide-ranging series of measures which will transform and renew the club.
“Unfortunately, this means announcing further potential redundancies and we deeply regret the impact on those affected colleagues. However, these hard choices are necessary to put the club back on a stable financial footing.
“We have lost money for the past five consecutive years. This cannot continue.
“Our two main priorities as a club are delivering success on the pitch for our fans and improving our facilities. We cannot invest in these objectives if we are continuously losing money.
“At the end of this process, we will have a more lean, agile and financially sustainable football club, while continuing to provide a world class service to our valuable commercial partners. We will then be in a much stronger position to invest in football success and improved facilities for fans, while remaining compliant with UEFA and Premier League regulations.”
Berrada insists the “two main priorities” are delivering success and improving facilities. United are set to complete £50m ‘Project Avalon’ which will renovate the training facilities available at Carrington.
Talks over a £2bn new stadium are also taking place, but in the background, the relentless penny-pinching is understandably causing lots of concern for United fans.