Leeds United’s 2018-19 financial account was published online on Wednesday morning. The losses have jumped from £4 million to £21 million, and the wage bill has increased to £46 million.
On the other hand, their annual turnover in the Championship is set to rise to around £60 million in the 2019-20 results. It leaves Leeds United in a precarious situation where owner Andrea Radrizzani or another potential investor will have to soak the money.
Radrizzani simply cannot finance Leeds in the Championship in the present model. There are no parachute payments to feed on and it’s all down to the flawed system of the English football pyramid.
As Gary Neville pointed out recently, Leeds, who are top of the Championship table, will get around £3 million at the end of the season for the rights to broadcast their games, while Norwich (bottom placed-team) will receive £100 million for being in the Premier League. The financial gap is huge.
Leeds moved quickly to negotiate a wage deferral with the players and staff during the Coronavirus outbreak, and it was a smart move for the club. As a result of the wage deferral, it brought down the maximum weekly wage of players to £6,000 a week until football resumes.
Here are some of the best reactions from the Leeds fans on Twitter:
This is terrible. How on earth does s club like Leeds continue to leak huge amounts of money
— gazlufc (@garetherskine1) April 8, 2020
And the fans wondered why we didn’t throw millions on the January transfer window
— Jack Hill (@jack_hill567) April 8, 2020
https://twitter.com/jamiesealy1988/status/1247793300393750533?s=20
We go up turnover moves to £150-£200 m Mark. But wages etc go up . We need to be around the for every £1 we make 50-60p wages, once they are up. As other commercial income tv, Adidas deal commercial deals should increase substantially in theory global reach etc
— Matthew Clark (@Matthew25088841) April 8, 2020
1. We will get promoted…👀
2. If we don’t, Phillips will leave for £20m+…🤷🏻♂️⚽️— Paddy Miller (@padwar11) April 8, 2020
It’s an absolute shambles this Phil. Wtf has he been doing seriously? If we mess this promotion up could be catastrophic for us.
— Wayne (@wayneleedsfan) April 8, 2020
We need promotion!
— USHOULDHAVEVOTED4CORBYN (@MOTalaw1919) April 8, 2020
We’d have to sell Kalvin to balance the books. I’d rather go into administration.
— Micky P Kerr (@MickyPKerr) April 8, 2020
The results give an indication that Leeds must get back to the Premier League, or else they will be forced to balance the books by selling their key players like Kalvin Phillips and others.
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