Man United faces more financial turmoil after Europa League final loss

(RNS, 23-05-25) The financial consequences of Manchester United losing in the Europa League final should be painful and affect the club for years.

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It was a zero-sum game Tottenham won 1-0 on Wednesday: Winner goes into the Champions League — plus the UEFA Super Cup game in August — and loser is out of Europe next season and gets nothing.

United lost a drab match despite, as football finance expert Kieran Maguire noted on Thursday, having higher revenue than Tottenham and spending 64% more on wages for a more expensively acquired squad of players. Tottenham also beat United twice in the Premier League this season, and in the domestic League Cup.

"If I was teaching this at management school (1) would conclude that there is something seriously wrong with the culture of the organization... which is set by senior management," Maguire wrote on X. Beyond the loss of sporting opportunities and reputational prestige, the club owned by the Glazer family from the United States and British billionaire industrialist Jim Ratcliffe has short and longer-term financial hits ahead.

No Champions League play next season is an instant loss of at least 80 million euros ($90 million), and approaching 150 million euros ($169 million) for a run deep into the knockout stage.