Manchester United will lay off 250 players, and the savings will go back to the squad

Manchester United have told staff today that the club intends to cut 250 people as new partner Sir Jim Ratcliffe continues to cut costs at Old Trafford.

Interim chief executive Jean-Claude Blanc informed staff at lunchtime on Wednesday that the club intends to carry out a wave of layoffs and that new partner INEOS Group is pursuing a series of cost-cutting measures recommended by consulting firm Interpath Advisory, which has been hired to review the club's commercial and operational expenses.

Hai Ge understands that the goal is to make cuts before the start of the season.

Various departments of the club and all levels of it will be affected, but the club states that this does not include staff at its charity, the Manchester United Foundation.

The club's annual accounts for the year ended 30 June 2023 show that Manchester United's workforce reached an average of 1,112, up from 1,035 in 2022 and 983 in 2021.

British media revealed in May that United had in fact made a voluntary leave offer to employees in the non-football sector – including scouts and team members involved in the game.

The offer – valid until 5 June – was made to staff at Old Trafford, the Carrington training base in the south-west suburbs of Manchester and the club's offices in central London. The offer, if the employee agrees to leave, will see the employee receive their annual bonus, but with very low acceptance.

The Glazer family, as the majority shareholder of Manchester United, appear to have essentially outsourced control of the club's commercial and football operations to the INEOS Group and are not opposed to a sweeping overhaul of the way the Americans previously ran the club.

It was a signal of their trust in Ratcliffe and his leadership team, including former British cycling team principal Sir Dave Blairsford.

At a club all-hands meeting in early May, Ratcliffe told employees they could no longer work from home and ordered them to return to the office from June 1.

INEOS Group has a history of reviewing revenues and costs following the acquisition of businesses. INEOS has taken back the club's credit cards from some senior staff and is insisting that staff pay part of the travel costs to attend the FA Cup final in May, although the new investors have at least kept in place a plan to give staff free tickets.

INEOS' change has made a huge difference at Old Trafford, as the club's former chief executive Richard Arnold, interim chief executive Patrick Stewart, football director John Mottaugh, chief financial officer Cliff Barty and communications director Ellie Norman have all recently left the club.

This week, British media reported that the club's head of sponsorship, Victoria Timpson – who had just struck a $75 million deal with new jersey sponsor Snapdragon – would also be leaving in three months.

Elsewhere, United are pushing ahead with a revulsal of the club's football structure, confirming this week that an agreement has been reached with Newcastle to appoint Dan Ashworth as director of football. Erik ten Hag has been retained as manager after a lengthy review of his position, during which United explored alternative candidates.

Ashworth will be responsible for football performance, recruitment at Old Trafford and will report back to technical director Jason Wilcox. Ashworth will report to Omar Bellada, who is scheduled to arrive from Manchester City later this month as chief executive.

Former football director John Motaugh resigned in April, serving for a decade, paving the way for Ashworth's appointment. ~~~

What powers does INEOS have over Manchester United's operations?

Initially, the plan was for INEOS to run only Manchester United's football operations, but it has already expanded its influence to the commercial side, most notably by appointing Bronke as interim chief executive until former Manchester City chief football official Birarda – hired by INEOS – took over in mid-July.

The decision to provide voluntary redundancies for employees was described as a 'management decision' by people familiar with the matter and has been agreed to by both groups of owners, meaning that the Glazer family – who still have overall control of the club – also approved it.

The Glazer family's relaxed attitude towards complete change at INEOS is seen as a reflection of their trust in Ratcliffe and his leadership team – including Bronke and former British cycling team principal Sir Dave Blearsford.

Because this is a policy change, it will be shared with the leaders of football clubs, but it is not something that needs board approval to implement.

Why did INEOS take this step?

INEOS is known to think Manchester United have too many staff and too much compared to other English clubs.

After its minority investment was approved in February, the company engaged consulting firm Interpath Advisory to review the commercial and operating costs of the entire club.

Hopefully, by downsizing their workforce of more than 1,000 people, United will save money. This, in turn, can help them better comply with the financial regulations of the Premier League and UEFA, the governing body of European football. To know how much money they can spend on signing players, they need to look at the costs associated with the club and work out where the money is to be spent.

INEOS' internal review process began as soon as its minority investment was approved, but Ratcliffe, Blairsford and other INEOS employees had ample time to consider how to improve the performance of United's athletic and operational departments.

INEOS has a history of reviewing revenues and costs after buying a business and considering how to improve the former and better manage the latter.

How does Manchester United compare to other clubs?

Liverpool's accounts for the year ended June 30, 2023, show that they have a total of 1,008 employees, three more than in 2022. Of these, 701 are classified as staff in administrative, commercial and other sectors, while another 238 are players, managers and coaches.

Arsenal's annual document, which ended on May 31, 2023, detailed that their average number of people hired per month was 689, of which 163 were marked as competition and training personnel. This average monthly number has risen from 595 in 2022.

At the other end of the Premier League, to highlight the scale of Manchester United's operations, Brentford had an average of 243 staff per month in the year to 30 June 2023, including players and training staff (129), an increase from 190 in the previous financial year.

Manchester City, who have now won the Premier League for the fourth time in a row, had an average of 520 staff in the year to 30 June 2023 – including players and football personnel (201) – which is less than half of United's 1,112 and down from 549 in the previous year.

However, Manchester City is part of the City Football Group, a multi-club group that also has other personnel.