Manchester United’s financial worries have continued to vie for attention with on-field performances as last season’s EPL runners-up learned their immediate UEFA Champions League fate in Monaco this week.

United will face Scottish Champions Rangers, La Liga outfit Valencia and the relatively unknown Turkish Super League champions Bursaspor in Champions League Group C.

The two games against Rangers will surely be billed as some form of “Battle of Britain.” But the Glasgow side were beaten home and away when they last met in this competition in 2003, 1-0 at Ibrox Park and 3-0 at Old Trafford.

Progress in the competition is as vital as ever after news broke of the club’s owners’ continuing financial travails.

 

United’s finances haven’t been helped by what is looking like a multi-million pound mistake in the transfer market, the much-heralded signing of unknown Portuguese forward Bebe.

Meanwhile, the club will also be hit in the pocket to a small but increasing extent by manager Alex Ferguson continuing refusal to talk to the BBC after EPL games, in breach of the league’s broadcast regulations.

United did make an impressive start to their EPL campaign with a convincing 3-0 Old Trafford win over newly-promoted Newcastle United.

But they squandered an opportunity to make it two wins out of two when Portuguese wideman Nani missed a penalty at Fulham which would have put the Red Devils 3-1 up with moments remaining. They then conceded an 89^th-minute equaliser.

United stunned the football world with their audacious “sight-unseen” swoop for young Portuguese former orphan Bebe.

But they further shocked observers by revealing that the 20-year-old had failed even to make Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s reserve side after his poor form in early training sessions.

Concerns have been expressed by United’s coaching staff about Bebe’s touch, control and general confidence, and it is reported that they consider him some way from first-team contention.

The peculiar nature of the transfer may have had an affect on the youngster’s acclimatisation.

But it is also claimed that Ferguson was anxious to show United could afford such transfer expenditure, to answer observers who claim he is being prevented from operating as he’d like due to financial constraints at the club.

United’s finances came to prominence again this week with two related stories about the club’s and their owners’ finances.

The Glazers borrowed considerable sums from hedge funds to help fund their United purchase in 2005. And these loans attracted huge interest rates of 14.25%.

These rates have now increased to 16.25% because of the Glazers’ inability to keep overall debts below a certain level (reportedly five times profit levels).

Repayment of these loans is the family’s responsibility, not the club’s. But the Glazers’ US shopping mall business is struggling badly, with the family having missed numerous recent mortgage repayments.

And observers believe that the money to pay off these loans will have to come from their only current profit-making business – Manchester United.

United take on early strugglers West Ham United at Old Trafford on Saturday evening.