Greed now runs in Manchester United chiefs

Greedy Glazers! Manchester United chiefs pay themselves £11m while putting off a £10m tax bill owed to the UK Government

• Manchester United chose to defer their £10m VAT bill to the UK Government
• United announced last week that their net debt had risen to a huge £429.1m
• The Glazers will however pick up more than £8.5m of the latest dividends
• United have also spent more than £1m on local relief efforts to the pandemic

Manchester United are facing criticism after they put off paying a £10million tax bill despite being set to fork out £11m in dividends next month to their owners, including £8.5m to the Glazer family.

Small print in United's latest quarterly results reveal the Premier League giants chose to defer their £10m VAT bill to the UK Government for a year.

Yet the dividend, the second £11m windfall for their shareholders over the past 12 months, comes as United announced last week that their net debt had risen by £127.4m to a huge £429.1m. The Glazers will pick up more than £8.5m of the latest dividends.

Man United chiefs Avram Glazer and Joel Glazer (R) are set to receive a dividends of £11million

United have been one of the most exemplary clubs during the coronavirus crisis as they refused to furlough staff, unlike Liverpool and Tottenham, who were forced into embarrassing u-turns after initially putting some of their workers into the Government's scheme.

United have also spent more than £1m on relief efforts to the pandemic in their local area, while they announced last week that the crisis had cost the club £28m so far, with the final figure expected to be much higher.

But this latest move could undo some of that goodwill, as well as infuriate those supporters frustrated with the Glazer ownership, given the taxpayer is due to carry the bill for any interest on money the Government must borrow.

Football finance lecturer Kieran Maguire told The Mail on Sunday: 'I don't think it reflects particularly well on the club because ultimately it means that the Government have to borrow more money on behalf of the taxpayer, who have to pay interest on that to allow the Glazers and other shareholders to be paid £11m.