Manchester United
2026/27 spending-room estimate
Season view
ProjectionSquad-cost basis2026/27 — Premier League SCR projection. This is the live view used across the rest of this page. What does this mean?
Forward-looking squad-cost estimate for 2026/27, built from public filings, reported transfer data, provider wage estimates and PSRwatch assumptions. Subject to transfer, wage, revenue and rule changes. These are unofficial PSRwatch estimates — final regulatory decisions sit with the leagues. Methodology
PSRwatch estimates Manchester United's 2026/27 squad-cost ratio at 73% of football income — comfortably inside the squad-cost thresholds. That leaves roughly £326m of annual squad-cost room before the 115% points-deduction line. Estimates updated 19 Jul, 09:57; accounts last synced 18 Jul, 22:34. These are independent PSRwatch estimates, not official Premier League calculations.
Today's read
Manchester United are estimated to be comfortably inside the squad-cost thresholds.
They have around £326m of room before the 115% points-deduction threshold, with an SCR estimate of 73% against the 115% points line (the 85% levy line is the secondary reference).
They are inside the 85% levy threshold, so no levy or points deduction applies on current estimates.
Confirmed transfers this summer have reduced remaining room by about £85m (+11.0 percentage points).
The old-PSR model is not expected to be the biggest issue in the 2023/24-2025/26 closeout window.
Room before a points deduction
Annual squad-cost room before the 115% threshold where points deductions start.
Points deductions start at 115% of football income. The 85% levy line is the secondary reference.
Room before the 85% line where a financial levy on overspend starts.
Accounts wage bill (all staff), annual transfer-fee costs and other squad-cost items.
Transfer effect
This table translates confirmed transfer activity into spending-room impact. A transfer fee is normally spread across the player's contract as an annual transfer-fee cost. Wages, signing fees, agent fees, loans and sales then change the live squad-cost position.
| Player / item | Move | From / To | Fee | Contract | Annual transfer-fee costi | Book profit/loss | SCR movement |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andrey Santos | In | Chelsea FC | £47m | 4 yrs | £12m | £0m | +3.0pp |
| Dermot Mee | In | Manchester United U21 | Undisclosed | 4 yrs | ~£4m | ~£0m | +1.5pp |
| Jack Fletcher | In | Manchester United U18 | Undisclosed | 4 yrs | ~£9m | ~£0m | +2.4pp |
| Karl Darlow | In | Leeds United | £0m | 3 yrs | £0m | £0m | +0.9pp |
| Rasmus Højlund | Out | SSC Napoli | £37m | Sale/no fee spread | £0m | £24m | -1.3pp |
| Tyler Fletcher | In | Manchester United U18 | Undisclosed | 4 yrs | ~£8m | ~£0m | +2.1pp |
| Youri Tielemans | In | Aston Villa | £34m | 4 yrs | £9m | £0m | +2.4pp |
~ Undisclosed fees use a PSRwatch modelling estimate to derive squad-cost figures. Undisclosed or estimated sale fees are not counted as real football income until reported or filed.
Football income
The SCR estimate depends on football income, so PSRwatch starts from the latest filed accounts and then estimates the 2026/27 income base.
2024/25
£730m low / £824m high
Built from filed accounts or reported sale fees only — undisclosed-fee estimates never count as income.
Latest filed revenue baseline: 2024/25.
Central forecast starts from the committed club forecast and splits football income using a league-typical modelled mix (about 18% matchday / 47% broadcasting in the Premier League) — the club's own filed mix will be used once its accounts disclose one.
Premier League participation is included in the broadcasting and commercial mix.
UEFA participation adds a separate revenue line and UEFA SCR exposure.
Low/high range is a deterministic +/-6% sensitivity around central football income.
Forecast income already clears the applicable Premier League floors (income >= GBP 175m, broadcasting >= GBP 95m), so no uplift was needed.
Squad-cost breakdown
Squad cost combines the club's accounts wage bill (all staff — a conservative stand-in for the League's player-and-coach definition), annual transfer-fee costs and estimated agent, signing, loan and bonus costs, compared with football income to give the SCR estimate.
From the club's filed accounts: total staff costs including non-playing staff, bonuses and employer NI. The League's squad-cost test counts player and head-coach pay, so this numerator errs conservative.
Old PSR: 2023/24-2025/26
Old PSR is the old three-year loss-based framework. It remains relevant for historic assessment and final closeout, but it is no longer the main live view for 2026/27 squad-building. Figures here are a PSRwatch model from filed accounts and public data — official PSR calculations can include private and regulatory adjustments that are not public.
2023/24, 2024/25, 2025/26
GBP 5m per known PL/EFL season.
Available £223m; cap £90m.
Before undisclosed/private adjustments.
Funded allowance available for this cycle.
Shortfall to support losses above baseline if needed.
League mix drives PL/EFL loss cap.
UEFA rules
UEFA rules are shown separately because clubs in European competition may face a stricter squad-cost threshold than the Premier League.
70% threshold
Room (£24m)
Owner funding
Owner funding can affect financial resilience and, under the old PSR framework, support permitted losses. It does not automatically create new squad-cost room under the revenue-linked SCR model.
2023/24, 2024/25, 2025/26
Cycle cap £90m.
Can support the old funded loss allowance.
SCR is revenue-linked, so owner funding is not automatic capacity.
Player ledger
Player-level squad-cost model from contract, wage and player-registration cost data.
Per-player wages are estimated gross fixed salaries from public sources. They sum well below the accounts wage bill used in the squad-cost estimate above, because that bill also covers bonuses, employer NI and non-playing staff.
| Player | Position | Contract end | Capitalised cost | Wage estimate | Annual transfer-fee costi | Annual squad cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senne Lammens | Goalkeeper | 2030-06-30 | £1m | £3m | £9m | £12m |
| Altay Bayındır | Goalkeeper | 2027-06-30 | £0m | £2m | £1m | £3m |
| Karl Darlow | Goalkeeper | 2028-06-30 | £0m | £5m | £0m | £5m |
| Tom Heaton | Goalkeeper | 2027-06-30 | £0m | £2m | £0m | £2m |
| Dermot Mee | Goalkeeper | 2028-06-30 | £17m | £7m | £2m | £9m |
| Leny Yoro | Centre-Back | 2029-06-30 | £1m | £6m | £13m | £19m |
| Lisandro Martínez | Centre-Back | 2027-06-30 | £1m | £6m | £10m | £17m |
| Matthijs de Ligt | Centre-Back | 2029-06-30 | £1m | £10m | £8m | £18m |
| Ayden Heaven | Centre-Back | 2029-06-30 | £1m | £1m | £8m | £9m |
| Harry Maguire | Centre-Back | 2027-06-30 | £0m | £9m | £2m | £11m |
| Tyler Fredricson | Centre-Back | 2028-06-30 | £0m | £1m | £1m | £2m |
| Luke Shaw | Left-Back | 2027-06-30 | £0m | £8m | £2m | £10m |
| Harry Amass | Left-Back | 2027-06-30 | £0m | £0m | £2m | £2m |
| Diego León | Left-Back | 2029-06-30 | £0m | £6m | £1m | £7m |
| Diogo Dalot | Right-Back | 2028-06-30 | £1m | £4m | £8m | £12m |
| Noussair Mazraoui | Right-Back | 2028-06-30 | £0m | £7m | £5m | £12m |
| Manuel Ugarte | Defensive Midfield | 2029-06-30 | £1m | £6m | £6m | £13m |
| Toby Collyer | Defensive Midfield | 2027-06-30 | £0m | £0m | £1m | £2m |
| Kobbie Mainoo | Central Midfield | 2031-06-30 | £2m | £8m | £18m | £26m |
| Andrey Santos | Central Midfield | 2031-06-30 | £48m | £9m | £10m | £19m |
| Youri Tielemans | Central Midfield | 2031-06-30 | £35m | £8m | £8m | £16m |
| Tyler Fletcher | Central Midfield | 2027-06-30 | £29m | £6m | £0m | £6m |
| Dan Gore | Central Midfield | 2027-06-30 | £0m | £6m | £0m | £6m |
| Bruno Fernandes | Attacking Midfield | 2027-06-30 | £1m | £16m | £9m | £25m |
| Mason Mount | Attacking Midfield | 2028-06-30 | £1m | £8m | £6m | £14m |
| Jack Fletcher | Attacking Midfield | 2027-06-30 | £34m | £6m | £0m | £7m |
| Marcus Rashford | Left Winger | 2028-06-30 | £1m | £16m | £10m | £26m |
| Patrick Dorgu | Left Winger | 2030-06-30 | £1m | £2m | £9m | £11m |
| Bryan Mbeumo | Right Winger | 2030-06-30 | £2m | £8m | £19m | £27m |
| Amad Diallo | Right Winger | 2030-06-30 | £1m | £6m | £12m | £18m |
| Matheus Cunha | Centre-Forward | 2030-06-30 | £2m | £9m | £19m | £29m |
| Benjamin Sesko | Centre-Forward | 2030-06-30 | £2m | £10m | £19m | £30m |
| Joshua Zirkzee | Centre-Forward | 2029-06-30 | £1m | £5m | £5m | £11m |
| Chido Obi | Centre-Forward | 2028-06-30 | £0m | £1m | £1m | £2m |
| Ethan Wheatley | Centre-Forward | 2028-06-30 | £0m | £0m | £0m | £1m |
Methodology and sources
Premier League SCR is estimated as squad costs divided by football income. Spending between 85% and 115% of football income attracts a financial levy on the overspend; crossing 115% brings a fixed 6-point deduction plus 1 further point per GBP 6.5m spent beyond the 115% capacity.
Squad costs use the club's accounts wage bill (all staff — conservative vs the League's player-and-coach definition), annual transfer-fee cost, and estimated agent, signing, loan and bonus costs.
Transfer fees are spread across contract life. Sales compare proceeds with remaining book value to estimate book profit or loss.
Revenue forecasts start from the latest filed accounts and committed club forecast, then split 2026/27 football income into matchday, broadcasting, commercial, UEFA and player-trading lines.
Old PSR is retained only as a 2023/24-2025/26 closeout layer. Owner funding can support the old loss allowance when available and capped, but it does not create new SCR revenue capacity.
Each public snapshot is generated from PSRwatch-owned JSON files after validation, with the last good snapshot kept if an upstream refresh fails.
Manchester United latest accounts extract (2024/25) - Accounts values are parsed from Companies House filings where available, then normalised into the committed full dataset.
PSRwatch 2026/27 squad-cost forecast - Forecast uses committed income, wage, annual transfer-fee cost and transfer assumptions with deterministic rule calculations.
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