The Glazers made Manchester United approach clear with Richard Arnold comments

There was an unmistakable note of financial caution as Manchester United's chief decision makers addressed investors on Thursday, as the club announced their latest set of financial results.

A record-breaking wage bill and a sharp rise in operating losses were the headline figures, with the net debt also shooting up and another £33million exiting the coffers in dividends in the 12 months to June 2022. Those results end just as United were beginning an unprecedented summer of spending, lavishing around £225million on new players for Erik ten Hag's squad.

That £384million wage bill will benefit from the raft of departures in the summer, but this was a recruitment drive like United have never been on before as well. Football director J ohn Murtough said that kind of window won't be repeated, while chief financial officer Cliff Baty spoke of a return to a "more normalised level of wages" and stressed the importance of Champions League football on revenue.

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Both Baty and chief executive Richard Arnold discussed the current financial climate. Arnold talked of "macroeconomic pressures" and the "inflationary environment", with Baty mentioning the impact it is having on costs such as travel, flights and wages.

The message was clear that the spending spree of this summer is likely to be a one-off. Under the ownership of the Glazers United are preaching a sustainable model, something that is difficult for supporters to swallow when dividends totalling £155million have now been paid in seven years and interest payments under the Glazer ownership now total an eye-watering £886million.

During the question and answer session on the call, Arnold talked about the