Ruben Amorim says it is important the Manchester United first team do not ignore the redundancies at the club and said it is his side’s “responsibility” to ensure more are prevented.
The Athletic reported on Tuesday that Sir Jim Ratcliffe was to continue his drive to cut costs as part-owner of United by making more than 100 members of staff redundant at Old Trafford. The new job cuts came after 250 people were made redundant in the summer.
United have posted five consecutive full-year losses since last achieving profitability during the 2018-19 season and their financial situation has not been helped by on-field performance. Amorim’s side are 14th in the Premier League and unlikely to qualify for the UEFA Champions League through a domestic league finish, which will impact revenue.
“I think it’s really important for us in the first team, coaches and players not ignore that,” Amorim said of the redundancies.
“People are losing their jobs. So we have to acknowledge that. And the biggest problem is the football team because we spend the money, we are not winning, we are not in Champions League, so the revenues are not the same, and we spend a lot of money in the past, and now we have to be careful with the finances.
“We cannot rebuild the team the way we would like, people are losing their jobs. Of course, people have that feeling of saving their job, is hard to have that feeling, and affects the environment. So I think we we cannot ignore.
“We acknowledge that problem and I want to say that the responsibility is the first thing. The first thing yes. And we have to change that. To change that the first part we should do is to win at Tottenham (on Sunday). That is the the small step to try to help these people, to try not to to push the the prices of the tickets higher, we are responsible for that.”
United recorded a net loss of £113million ($139.7m) in their 2023-24 accounts.
INEOS has made a series of other cost-cutting measures, including removing club credit cards from a number of senior staff, insisting that staff contribute to the travel in order to attend May’s FA Cup final and cutting lucrative ambassadorial deals for the club’s legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson and a £1m-per-year retainer for former chief executive David Gill.
Ratcliffe has also sought to raise revenue by taking the mid-season decision to raise matchday ticket prices to £66 per game, eliminating concessions for children and pensioners on unsold tickets for the rest of the campaign.
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