Man Utd's £5.8m kit sponsor blow

It's been an interesting couple of days when it comes to assessing the finances of Manchester United.

Profits, so far, for the current financial year, but growing debt on Wednesday and last night confirmation of the compensation figure that may end up being paid to Ruben Amorim following his dismissal last month.

But there is other stuff in the small print.

For a start, there is a decrease in sponsorship revenue of 13.5%, or £5.8m, over the six months to 31 December, primarily, the club say, due to the end of the training kit deal with Tezos last summer.

That's a big gap and one of the reasons why Champions League qualification this season is so important when it comes to United being an attractive commercial proposition.

Finance costs – to service the debt – are always a point of interest. They have reached £35.4m over the first six months of the financial year. Fans argue without the debt, that money could be invested in the respective squads.

The amount United owe in outstanding transfer fees is £422.1m, of which £130.49m is due between one and two years and £53.8m between two and five.

There are also contractual fees of £106.18m written into player contracts for both the men's and women's team if certain conditions are met – although United would presumably be happy to pay that as it would mean those players are doing well.

Also, given a lot is made of the fact missing out on Champions League qualification costs United £10m a season from their Adidas deal, it is worth noting additional payments can be made if teams are successful.

Although there are no actual details, it seems one of those is the women's side winning the Champions League.

Even more incentive for Marc Skinner's side to beat Bayern Munich in the last eight next month.