Provided I am in a decent enough state of mind for it, I'll probably be aiming to do a semi-lengthy post on the accounts when they're released. I have a few things on the Horizon (wedding I have to attend, business plan to discuss with someone, possibly seeking land for another business and a few land owners to speak to about land management for declining species) but I still think I'll have time.
I'll attempt to address some of the "whys" during the conversation that post will likely set off. It'll be fairly factual and I'll try to keep personal bias off it as I think it's fair to say that we have very differing views on the owners and frankly I won't want to go twelve rounds with anyone on the FSG stuff for the 428,912,037th time. We all know each other's positions and it's a bloody dull chat.
Just a brief one on the revenue, yes - the £594.3m is a very impressive figure on first glance.
But a £368.5million wage bill (up from £314.5m in 20/21) is substantial to say the least - one of the highest in World Football - and that eats a BIG chunk of the £594.3m figure up.
We incentivised contracts rewarding players for success (we went far in multiple comps) along with new deals for Fabinho, Van Dijk and Trent in 2021 - plus we had Salah’s new bumper contract - that's going to come into play for this season’s accounts.
Things like Anfield's bills (electricity etc) often get forgotten about, plus tax payments.
Also £22.1m disappeared on agent fees (more than Elliott and Carvalho, or Ox+Keita+Firmino's annual wage with change to spare) whilst amortisation of player registrations sat at £107.8m from the 20/21 season.
So the £594.3m gets eaten into pretty fast. The "bills to pay" phrase that often gets somewhat ridiculed online - but is still very real.
Hope this info sheds a little light.
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