People talk about Utd having no money to spend when in reality it's all bollox. As you say, the debt levels are grossly exaggerated. We spent 50m last year with consummate ease. If Fergie wants to spend more than that this summer, there is money there.
Operating turnover wise, there are probably only Barca and Madrid that are in our league. Even then, Barca have adopted our marketing model as for years we were light years ahead of them. It's probably only in the last 6 years that they have been more business savvy.