The balance sheet is severely stressed because of what some United insiders regard as years of poor financial management but Ratcliffe is optimistic that if these painful measures are taken, United will be in secure financial health in about two years.
The minority owner is said to feel he has little choice other than to take tough measures after United lost £300m over the past three years but is confident that acting now can lead to the club being profitable and highly competitive in two years’ time.
United could afford only the £25.1m outlay to buy Patrick Dorgu from Lecce and about £1.5m spent to bring in Ayden Heaven from Arsenal during the winter transfer window and face a difficult summer window because of limited finances, with the ability to considerably strengthen Ruben Amorim’s squad dependent on accruing a profit from player sales.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe believes his decision to cut about 200 more jobs at Manchester United is necessary to help the club avoid going bust, the Guardian understands.
United insiders have told the Guardian that the club would have run out of cash without the $300m (£240m) Ratcliffe injected last year.
