Manchester United witness loss of £220m under David Moyes

David Moyes’s United reign has seen the club in decline

Manchester United horrendous start under new boss David Moyes has seen £220m being wiped off their stock market valuation. The Red Devils failure to perform in the league has seen the club’s worth tumble by £220m in a month.

United have seen their New York Stock Exchange share price drop by more than 12 per cent from £10.68 to £9.36 since Dec 6, despite the S&P 500 Index on which the club is listed gaining more than 2 percent overall in the time period.

The Manchester outfit have seen their valuation drop from £1.75 billion on Dec 6, to £1.53 billion during yesterday morning’s New York trading. The drop in the club’s value dates back to early October. Although ­United’s share price rallied in late November, following the announcement of positive forecasts of annual turnover in quarterly accounts, the loss in value since early December has coincided with the team’s inability to break into the top four of the Premier League.

United had announced a 29.1 per cent rise in revenues for the first quarter of the year, but while forecasted revenue for the full year was £420-430?million, that figure was based on the assumption that the team would finish at least third in the League this season and reach the Champions League quarter-finals.

With United set to face Greek champions Olympiakos in the Champions League round of 16 next month, Moyes’s team appear to be on course to achieve the target of progression to the last eight at-least.

Following United defeat at the hands of Spurs on New Year’s Day, consigning United to their fourth home league defeat of the season , the reigning champions lie seventh, five points adrift of fourth-placed Liverpool and failure to qualify for next season’s Champions League would mean United missing out on at least £20 million in prize money and potentially damaging their commercial appeal.

United remain determined to add to their squad this month, however, with the club’s owners, the Glazer family, prepared to sanction moves for players identified by Moyes. While, senior figures at United are also prepared for life without Champions League, as they remain confident that the club can comfortably survive without Champions League football, with sizable funds in place for summer transfer activity.

Despite the growing gap between United and the top four, Moyes insists his team remain capable of climbing the table and challenging in the FA Cup and Capital One Cup, with a semi-final first leg against Sunderland looming on Tuesday.

“I will still keep plugging away and try to win the league games,” Moyes said. “That’s the job. It’s getting that consistency that’s really important. We have yet to find that really, albeit we won six [consecutive games] and had a defeat. I think we had four Premier League wins before the defeat [against Tottenham], but if you are only judging it on results, fine.

“But if you are judging it on performances then it would’ve been a fifth win after how we played.”

Moyes, meanwhile has confirmed that Rooney would miss the Swansea game after having a scan on a groin injury, with Van Persie still sidelined with an injured thigh. Ashley Young will also miss the Swansea game after suffering a shoulder injury following a challenge by Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris on Wednesday. Young has had a scan and Moyes is hopeful that the injury is just bad bruising.