United: Beckham sale won't harm profits

David Beckham's departure to Real Madrid will not halt Manchester United's financial steamroller.

Old Trafford officials are confident United are robust enough to survive the England captain's £23m (€32.9m) switch to Spain, which has robbed the club of their most marketable asset.

Proceeds from the sale of Beckham were not included in the announcement that the Premiership champions have increased their pre-tax profits by 22% to £39.3m (€56.2m) for the year ending July 31, 2003.

Although the figure was slightly below City forecasts, it is still well in front of their competitors and their wage to turnover ratio of 46% is the envy of all their Premiership rivals.

With virtually every home game still sold out, the new Premiership TV deal likely to bring in at least the same revenues as the club enjoyed before and their massive sponsorship deals with Nike and Vodafone helping to generate even more global interest, there is every likelihood United will go on setting the off-field pace for years to come.

Even the shock departure of chief executive Peter Kenyon to Chelsea has done little to dent confidence inside the Red Devils' camp and group finance director Nick Humby is sure the loss of Beckham won't have any effect either.

"We believe the club is bigger than any one individual," he said.

"Fans quickly move on from old stars to new ones, who are already starting to come through, while Nike and Vodafone wanted to be associated with Manchester United football club, not just one of its players.

"The departure of David Beckham was part of an overall strategy aimed at maintaining our success over a long period of time.

"The squad was getting older and the manager wanted to bring in some younger players who will give us more options going forward."

In fact, the departures of Beckham and Juan Sebastian Veron, who joined Chelsea during the summer, have actually strengthened United's off-field position.

With two big earners off their books, their overall salary levels have been reduced, even though Ferguson brought in five new players this summer.