Cristiano Ronaldo‘s last gift to his former club was to help keep the heavily indebted football club out of the very deepest red with his sale to Real Madrid. When the English football club was purchased by the Glazer family in 2005 the new owners borrowed very heavily against Man Utd’s future earnings. It is in this context The New York Times notes the second round of debt refinancing which the club’s owners are making since the purchase. This is Money explains how the debt financing operates. Despite Manchester United’s enormous annual turnover it owes something more than £60m in interest payments every year on the outstanding capital debt of something close to £700m. The renegotiation of debt deals suggests financial strain and if the Glazer’s couldn’t meet payments, or renegotiate them, the club would belong to a selection of US hedge funds.Wikipedia lists the creditors as Citadel, Och-Ziff Capital Management Group and Perry Capital.

Clearly, Man Utd need to keep winning and stay popular.