Manchester United have had to agree a hefty interest rate rise after renegotiating part of their £1bn-plus debt.
United owed $425m (£317m) of their overall debt in bonds that were due to mature on 25 June 2027.
They have now agreed to borrow $550m (£410m) under new terms, which settles the $425m and gives them a little more financial flexibility.
The club’s finance chiefs have been renegotiating the situation for over 12 months, knowing it would be impossible to match the 3.79% interest they had been paying on the debt.
United have revealed that has now been done.
However, the new borrowing is attracting interest of 5.36%.
United said the money will be used to “prepay the outstanding principle amount of the 2027 notes, together with accrued and unpaid interest” and also for “general corporate purposes”.
The move underlines the significant sums involved in financing the club in its current form.
In its third quarter accounts, to 31 March 2026, United confirmed net finance costs of £20.3m for the previous three months, and £55.7m for the previous nine months, although that was put down to an “unfavourable swing in foreign exchange rates”.
In September 2025, respected football finance blogger Swiss Ramble estimated United had paid £852m in interest alone since the Glazer family completed their leveraged buy-out in 2005.
Figures in their third quarter release show the club owed £1.29bn at the end of last year.
The £317m was a part of that debt, and there are additional “liabilities” of more than £500m – the vast majority of which are outstanding transfer fee payments.
In addition, United have extended the repayment term of their secured loan of $225m (£168m) that was due to be paid by 6 August 2029, to 10 June 2031.
In March, the club stated that loan attracted interest of between 1.25% and 1.75% above the the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR), which reflects the cost of borrowing cash overnight.
The deal comes as United officials are still to decide how to fund their new stadium plans.
It has been estimated a 100,000-capacity ground will cost at least £2bn and probably more given growing global costs of raw materials and labour.
Sources have spoken optimistically to Sport about the prospect of a deal being done with Freightliner, who own the land United want to build on, this summer.
That would allow plans to be drafted and a true nature of the costs involved will begin to emerge.
