They’re called “taxes”.
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I highly doubt anyone can stop the club donating to a registered charity
It would involve a massive level of trust from both parties
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Excellent as always… A must read for anyone whining about transfers…
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So basically we spend what we earn and most of that goes on wages and day to day running costs with a bit left over for transfers. If we make a major sale or raise a load of money by making a bunch of sales, we have more to spend on transfers.
As the last couple of years have impacted both our revenue and our ability to sell players but, not the need to renew the contracts of our star players, that means we don’t have loads to spend on transfers. Pretty much common sense that, hard to understand how anyone doesn’t see that.
The highest risk is missing on on the CL, as it always has been, but otherwise it looks on paper to be a very sensible approach compared to a lot of those around us.
Bet he’s had some lovely replies to this though.
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I haven’t got an issue with this but what is annoying is when you get reports in March saying if we miss out on Champions League it won’t affect transfer plans. That report shows it clearly does. I mean obviously it didn’t because we spent fuck all but you know what I mean 
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But that’s your perspective on what our plans were no? We had held contract renewals for 12 months, if we kept losing money we may not have re-signed everyone we have? We could have had to sell a player like Mane, promote Jota as 1st choice and sign someone for half the cash we got for Mane to balance the books?
It could have been not signing Konate and going with Phillips as 4th choice?
It’s very easy to think of transfer as literally incomings… For us and our model it’s a lot more.
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Yes and maybe I’m reading it wrong but fundementally “better” owners in terms of us spending more for incoming transfers are either an entire country or ones who will load us with debt…
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Were there? I saw the reports saying CL qualification meant we could act as normal which I guess is what we’ve ended up doing.
For me the worry is now reflecting on what would have happened had we not made it? Would it have meant we pushed to sell a high value asset like Mane or Salah to fund transfer business or contract renewals? Would it have meant some renewals wouldn’t have been possible? Would we have had to sacrifice bringing in a CB of the quality of Konate?
That was my reading of it too. You’ve got the ones where money isn’t an issue, even though Chelsea actually end up with a profit on business done in the window. You’ve got United who will always be able to spend but they’re haemorrhaging money into the Glazers pockets. There’s Spurs and Arsenal loading up external debts or transfer debts in one form or another and they’re jumping from manager to manger desperately clawing to get back into the financial bosom of the CL.
Then there’s us. Spend what we make, invest in the manager, his team, the infrastructure and retaining some of the best players in the world. I’d have loved one more player but when you look at finding the £20m-£40m it would take to bring in a decent forward type, who you’d probably hope wouldn’t need to play that much, you start to see why they might have gone with what they have. Of course, decent deals for Origi, Phillips, Ojo and Minamino that we might have got in previous windows would probably have changed that.
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So basically this business model said that we spend almost everything we make on wages to keep our players and staff we can only buy if we sell. Well, I see a problem in the (near) future since our squad is ageing rapidly and we have not many to sell.
Comes down to sell players like TAA and Elliott if FSG does not pump new money into the club.
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With the window now closed and I have had a chance to reflect on our business this window overall I am satusfied with the business we did.
We absolutely needed a CB and I think we got one of the best up and coming talents in Europe. I’ll be surprised if it isnt Konate and VVD as our preferred partnership by seasons end. Will be a credit to Matip or Gomez if they can remain first choice.
I am also pleased with the players we resigned. We needed to keep the core
of the team together. Its a strong squad with many years infront of it so hanging on to what we have was important.
Probably alittle disappointed we weren’t able to move on a few more fringe players which potentially could have freed up some squad places and cash for better players to come in. But not really unhappy with what we have and not really going to moan we didnt replace our fifth choice forward with a better option.
Think the owners have continued to be prudent and cautious financially. Do the business that absolutely had to be done and then see where sales get us over the window so as to not accumulate debt or put us in a shaky position financially. I’m content with that for now. But come next summer after a normal season with crowds and normal revenue levels I would hope to see a bit more spending to
refresh the squad. If they wanna get Mbappe i wont say no but will be comfortable with our normal smart purchasing process which so far has served us well in the Klopp era.
Plenty of quality available on Free transfers next summer I sincerely hope we are right in the mix for some of the very high quality players who will be available.
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I think that is an overly pessimistic take. Assuming club continues to be competitive in the league and qualifying for the CL over the next couple of years, commercial revenues should see a rise from where they were last season. Add in increased match day revenue from the the stadium improvements next year and we can see revenues should go up.
As for players available to sell, the number is probably much higher than you think. If Norris and other academy players continue to progress, the likes of Kostas who may want to leave in a year or two for first team football may be replaced from within. Players like Ox, or maybe even Keita who have not yet been offered new contracts may wish to move on, as might Firmino. Then of our key players if Mane or Salah for example don’t sign new deals the club will make them available. Even if they do sign new contracts, given their ages, the club would probably be open to offers if considered very generous for them (and have suitable replacements lined up).
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Firstly, the hope is revenues return to normal and then continue to grow.
Once the Annie Road end is done, we won’t be paying out for any more major stadium projects or another new training ground.
Players over the age of 30 still generate funds, especially if they are as good as some of those we have. But also, if you’re paying someone £250k a week plus on a five year contract, that is a hell of an investment. You might not recoup a huge fee if you sell them but you no longer have that astronomical wage to pay and that money can be invested elsewhere, such as transfer fees and wages for a replacement.
It’s all just revenue and expenses at the end of the day. Just because you currently spend it on a huge wage bill, doesn’t mean you couldn’t then spend it on transfer fees if you no longer have the obligation of paying it to someone in wages.
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It’s interesting that the FSG put crowd think this completely vindicates their position. And it makes for really special reading. I particularly enjoyed the lad who thinks we need to operate more like Spurs. A few pointing out Arsenals spending. You don’t know what to say.
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I agree with others that this is overly pessimistic.
First and foremost, our model will have taken an almighty kicking from covid. I suppose a valid criticism is that the model is a little vulnerable to this kind of external shock, but the worst of this should have been worked through now.
The wages v transfers issue is cyclical. At the minute wages are high because we have built a stellar team, and it costs money to keep that side together. However, over the next few years, as that side breaks up, it will tip the scales the other way. All being well, in a decade we’re having the same conversation because that will mean the next side has reached the heights this one has.
The slight concern I have is that if our model is reliant on selling players at the right time, that could become an issue. I think the way the market is heading, the times of being able to punt failed players for £20-30m to teams a tier down from us might be done.
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Good post, but the last part relies on people being good. That’s never a good stance to take. When reflecting about big money problems and fiscal issues, it’s more realistic to admit that people don’t want to share their wealth.
Regarding that issue, I think that the extra money spared after initiating a wage cap shouldn’t go to the directors, because of the issues you raised, but to the league, who then could redistribute it to the lower league levels, for infrastructure or even for charity.
It would be the decent thing to do. And obviously, that’s why it will never happen.
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When I first read your post I thought that you had uncovered a militant group of extreme options traders opposed to FSG! 
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This is a very valid point. We’ve lost Can, Lallana and Wijnaldum on frees in the past few seasons. Milner will likely be another next summer, albeit he’ll be 36 by then and Karius who we can’t give away it seems. Only Wijnaldum was a core piece of the team at the time of leaving but realistically, there were possible markets for all those players where we could have recouped some fees had they gone a year or two earlier. We would then of course have needed to replace them at that time rather than later on.
We’ve got a few other squad types on contracts that are running short now. Losing Origi, Ox, Keita for nothing over the next two years would be leaving a lot of money on the table. But unless we’re in a position to buy replacements then the preference may be to let them run down rather than renew them and hope there’s a market if they are to be moved on.
Then there’s Salah, Mane and Firmino all expiring in summer 2023. Salah is front of the queue for a renewal now but can we afford to keep all three on improved contracts? Or, is summer 2022 when we see one or more move on whilst we can get a decent fee and refresh the front line with some younger blood?
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Success is irrelevant if you get dopamine from being alternatively excited and outraged.
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I dont think the age of selling squad players for obscene fees is gone, it’s just temporarily on hold while football finances return to their previous levels.
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That isn’t strictly true. Since FSG took over the club £233 million has been invested in tangible fixed assets e.g. expanding the Main Stand, and building the new training facility etc.
As @rab pointed out, once the Annie Road extension is completed, there are no more major infrastructure projects to fund. Consequently once any loans taken out to fund these developments are paid off, there should be substantial additional moneys for transfers.
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