Man Utd can win trophies despite debt - Berrada

Manchester United chief executive Omar Berrada says the club can win trophies despite its current debt levels.

Figures in their third quarter financials - which run up to 31 March - show United owed £1.29bn at the end of last year.

However, a bond refinancing at a higher interest rate in June means servicing the debt will cost more, while the club are yet to outline what they intend to do with the additional $125m (£92.45m) they borrowed at the same time.

Many fans have blamed the financial situation at United for the failure to match many of their rivals' spending in the transfer market this summer.

Addressing the transfer situation in his news conference on Friday, head coach Michael Carrick said: "The situation is what it is, in terms of finances and what we can work with."

However, he then rejected the notion any kind of spending restriction was in place.

Debt was one of the key points raised in a question and answer session with Berrada at the United Fans Forum meeting on 30 July, the minutes of which have been published on the club's official website.

"We have shown that with debt, we can not only be profitable, but more importantly, win trophies with the current structure that we have," said Berrada. "And our aim is to do that again."

Berrada also admitted the club's initial communication around the ticketing investigation that has created so much anger from some fans should have been better.

"It was the club's intention to tackle touting – which is problematic for the club and our loyal supporters," he said.

"There are no hidden intentions, the club is not trying to make financial gains from this process nor trying to reduce the number of season tickets available.

"We acknowledge there are learnings to be made from this investigation, and the initial communications should have been better to explain to fans what we are trying to do, and we will improve on this as a club."