Manchester United are looking for extra help to keep the club on the right side of football’s finance regulations, a source has told ESPN.
United will hire a football finance manager, who will be responsible for ensuring compliance with profit and sustainability rules (PSR).
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The club were fined €300,000 ($326,000) by UEFA in July for a “minor breach” of Financial Sustainability Regulations and continue to walk a tightrope with regards to the Premier League’s rules.
Sources have told ESPN that finances remain “tight” ahead of the summer transfer window.
United are keen to maximise their budget for new players but are also keen to avoid a breach of the rules.
United’s Chief Operating Officer Collette Roche said in December that points deductions handed out to Everton and Nottingham Forest show the rules “have real teeth.”
Everton have been deducted six points while Forest have been deducted four points for breaching the Premier League’s PSR.
It’s an issue that new United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe is acutely aware of with the British billionaire keen to build a new stadium in Manchester to improve revenue streams.
“One of the new issues in football is FFP [Financial Sustainability Regulations] where you have to live within your means so the more means you’ve got the better you can live in a way,” Ratcliffe told the Cycling Club podcast.
“The future of football isn’t going to be going to the game and then going home.
“If you can get people spending after the game then that’s good for us, it’s a win win. The fans benefit and the club benefits because they can buy better players.”
United are hopeful of having Lisandro Martínez available for their trip to Brentford on March 30. Martinez hasn’t featured since suffering a knee injury in a 3-0 win over West Ham on Feb. 4 but has joined up with the Argentina squad during the international break.
United gave Martinez permission to make the trip to give him some high-intensity training ahead of his comeback but, according to a source, would prefer that he doesn’t feature in games against El Salvador and Costa Rica.
Meanwhile, United have announced a preseason friendly against Rangers in Edinburgh. They face the Scottish side at Murrayfield on July 20 before travelling to the United States for a three-game tour.