New York-listed Manchester United said on Monday its revenue edged slightly higher to £135.4 million in its fiscal first quarter ended September 30, 2019 — but its net debt soared 55% to £384.5 million.

The company reiterated fiscal year 2020 guidance of revenues of £560 million to £580 million and total adjusted EBITDA of £155 million to £165 million.

Ed Woodward, executive vice chairman, said: “We have a clear vision in terms of football philosophy and recruitment.

“The significant investments that we have made in recent years in areas such as transfers, recruitment infrastructure, analytics and our academy are already beginning to bear fruit.

“We are very proud to be shortly approaching a milestone 4,000th game featuring an academy player, and we are particularly optimistic regarding the considerable young talent currently coming through.

“Our ultimate goal is to win trophies by playing exciting football with a team that fuses graduates from our academy with world-class acquisitions.”