Manchester United Reveal Revenue Loss and Debt Rise in Latest Financial Results

Manchester United are counting the huge cost of missing out on Champions League football after announcing on Tuesday a £9.8 million loss compared to the same period last year.

Mark Ogden of The Telegraph, Sky News' Paul Kelso and Ian Herbert of The Independent broke the news via social media:

United finished seventh in the Premier League last season following the exit of Sir Alex Ferguson and appointment of David Moyes, who was dismissed shortly before the end of the 2013-14 campaign.

News of the club's consequential losses comes as no shock to world football, with Ogden describing them as "no real surprise."

However, the journalist does highlight that it is a warning to all of the other Champions League contenders of what can happen if you fail in the Premier League:

Last season, the north west super club posted revenue figures of £433 million—per Alex Richards of the Mirror—so Tuesday's figures represent a significant drop.

The report was expected though, considering United's record spend on transfers during pre-season and the added wages of superstar signings like Angel Di Maria and Radamel Falcao. 

Richards says United have significantly lost revenue from their usual European matchday finances, further crippling profits:

Income streams from both broadcasting revenue and matchday revenue, which were both £19.3million for the first quarter of the 2013-14 financial year, can expect to take a hit.

Broadcasting revenue will suffer due to no money at all coming in from UEFA. It had been worth £35.7million to United last season.

Matchday income will be affected because their are no European matches compared to 10 last season. Those were worth a combined total of around £20million.

Ian Ladyman of the Mail Online reports United are now considering a "lucrative post-season tour" of Asia to make up the financial shortfall of missing out on European football.

Ladyman says Old Trafford chiefs are considering a trip to Asia in May, with a possible match against AC Milan in January—to take place in the Middle East—which could net the Red Devils £3 million:

Now it can be revealed that United are discussing a ground-breaking tour of the Far East to supplement an expected visit to the Middle East in January. Neither projects have yet been rubber-stamped by the United board or by manager Louis van Gaal but the club are aware that there are gaps in the calendar that would enable them to make the trips.

Despite the negative impact of the latest figures, United chief executive Ed Woodward was upbeat in his assesments of the club's immediate future.

Sky Sports reported Woodward's reaction on Tuesday afternoon, with the United supremo highlighting the positives of the present and future:

While we recognise that the 2014/15 fiscal year financial results will reflect our absence from the Champions League, we signed the largest kit sponsorship deal in the history of sport in the first quarter.

With that concluded, we are excited to focus our efforts on the meaningful growth opportunities in sponsorship, digital media and retail and merchandising.

Bleacher Report's Rob Dawson, and Herbert, continued this theme of positivity, covering Woodward's thoughts on the building of the squad and the feeling that United are on the cusp of achieving great things:

The Glazers have always made their assets work for them in terms of turning a profit, so it seems most likely that the Milan match in January and the proposed tour in May will happen.

There is no international tournament to affect club matters this summer and the United owners will make use of this period to generate money.

This is how modern football clubs now work and United would be laying a marker on how to supplement the income of a team. Further extensive tours will surely become commonplace in the near future.

The financial results will not be tolerated long-term and the huge investment we have seen at Old Trafford this summer will need to be partially recouped. The arrival of marquee signings will definitely help United on the pitch but the Glazers will see it as a game of roulette—speculating to accumulate. 

But it also highlights that Louis van Gaal's tenure at the club is not 100 percent secure. If he does not succeed in placing United back in the Champions League, there is every chance he will be sacked.

The paymasters at Old Trafford will not accept further failure, especially with a hugely inflated wage bill and mammoth investments in the squad.