The Political Economy of Football V2

The January transfer window is generally quieter than the one in the summer. It is difficult to secure value and panic purchases may not change a team's fortunes. Sometimes it makes more sense to prepare for relegation rather than spending large sums in a futile attempt to avoid it. However, it does seem that there is a feeling this year that unrealistic sums are being asked for average players and this will lead to a quieter transfer window than usual. Some commentators think that the final sum spent could be less than a third of last year's record total. The total spent up to deadline day this year has been £110m, compared to £280m in 2018. Last year £150m was spent on deadline day alone, but more of a flurry than a last minute splurge is anticipated for today. This year's total expected is expected to be £130m - £140m, similar to 2014 and 2015. Clubs are looking for loan deals with the possibility of a signing in the summer. In most incoming loan deals Premier...

Mauricio Pocchettino's remarks about Tottenham Hotspur's exit from the FA Cup have caused some controversy, but one can see the financial logic behind them. Tottenham generated almost 23 times as much money from the Champions League as they did from the FA Cup last season. The gap between the financial value of the two competitions is set to increase to a ratio of 80:1 this season. Spurs banked £63.2m as a result of qualifying for the last 16 of the Champions League last season, compared to £2.8m for reaching the FA Cup semi-finals. The figures for this season are projected to be about £80m and less than £1m. In 2017-18 the club received £23.7m in prize money, £29.5m for the sale of television rights and £9.1m in gate receipts.

Russian businessman Maxim Demin's company has taken full ownership of Bournemouth. A 25% stake in the Cherries, held by Chicago-based Peak6 Investments, has now been acquired by Demin's AFCB Enterprises Ltd. With a very small matchday income, the club hopes to have a new stadium ready by 2020/21.

Kieran Maguire of the PriceofFootball takes an in depth look at Arsenal's finances: My friend Stan He concludes, 'Arsenal are in a tricky position, two years without Champions League participation is costly for a club that has invested so much in player transfers and wages in the last couple of years but to a certain extent they are running to stand still when competing with the other big clubs in terms of player investment (except Spurs).' 'Stan Kroenke’s motives for running the club are as mysterious as ever. He appears to want Arsenal to be self-financing, which is understandable to a degree, but this may result in the club earning the riches of the Champions League less regularly and finding it harder to attract the best talent in terms of coaches and players, which will restrict growth in terms of commercial deals and further anger Gooners.'

The owner of Notts County, Alan Hardy, has put the club up for sale, saying that he needs to concentrate on his other business interests after two years in charge: County up for sale The club is the oldest professional football club in the world and is currently at the bottom of League Two. Hardy denies the sale is taking place because he tweeted an inappriopriate picture of his anatomy. He apologised for uploading a photo onto his Twitter account which reportedly showed his penis. Kieran Maguire of the PriceofFootball comments: 'Can’t blame Alan Hardy for wanting to sell Notts County. Problem is, who wants to buy a business that loses £35,000 every week, rents the stadium & is technically insolvent as liabilities exceed assets so has to rely on the owner to survive.'

Arsenal's 2017/18 accounts show profit before tax increased from £45m to £70m, despite revenue falling £35m (8%) to £388m, mainly due to participating in the Europa League rather than more lucrative Champions League, as profit on player sales surged £113m to £120m. Profit after tax improved from £35m to £57m. £70m profit before tax is not only a record for the club, but is the highest profit reported to date in the 2017/18 Premier League, just ahead of Chelsea £67m, followed by Manchester United £26m and West Ham £18m. In fact it is the third highest profit ever registered in the Premier League. Judging by vox pop comments by Arsenal fans before last night's cup game, many of them would like to see some of this profit invested in the team. The last time Arsenal made a loss was in 2002, so they have recorded profits for 16 years in succession. Even so, the authoritative Swiss Ramble notes, 'However, 2018/19 is likely to see a large loss, due to lack of Champions League ...

Generating record revenue of €750.9m, Real Madrid return to first place in the Deloitte Money League for the first time since 2014/15, posting the second-highest lead over second place (FC Barcelona) in Money League history (€60.5m). Overall, the 20 highest earning football clubs in the world generated a record €8.3bn (£7.4bn) of combined revenue in 2017/18, an increase of 6% on the previous year. Real Madrid become the first club to generate more than €750m and regain their place as the highest revenue generating club in world football, making it a record twelfth time at the top. The top 20 highest earning football clubs for the 2017/18 season, with combined revenues growing 6% to €8.3bn, a new record. FC Barcelona climb one place to second, making it a Spanish one-two at the top of the Money League, whilst Manchester United slip to third. Tottenham Hotspur make it into the top 10 for only the second time, having last appeared in 2006/07. A record six English clubs feature in the t...

Chesterfield's accounts for 2017/18 show that losses doubled from £420k to over £1m or £20,000 a week. They are reliant on director loans to keep afloat. They borrowed £1.2m last year from owner Dave Allen interest free. Chesterfield now owe £7 million to Dave Allen (interest free) and £3 million to former directors (interest of 5% on some of this). Surviving in the lower leagues is tough. Chesterfield income was down 10%. The club generated over £1 million from transfer fees which may include sell on fees but spent just £10,000 on new players. The wage bill was down seven per cent as the club was relegated and fewer bonuses were paid. However, over £4.1m was spent on wages and wage related costs which represented 71 per cent of turnover. £220k was spent on legal and professional costs, of which a large slice was probably agents fees. It is interesting that medical supplies cost £118k. Critics consider that the club has suffered from poor financial control and negligent ma...

Liverpool have been forecast to break the world record for the highest net profit made in a season by a football club. The record is held by Leicester City who made a £80m profit (£92.5m before tax) the season after their 2015/16 Premier League title win when they played in the Champions League for the first time. The 2016/17 season was also the first year of the new Premier League TV deals. Tottenham Hotspur held the record before Leicester City, largely because the sale of Gareth Bale to Real Madrid for £85m in 2013. Liverpool's profits could exceed £100m, although the club has used the income to reinvest in players and facilities. It would be a remarkable turnaround for a club that lost £42.6m in 2007/8. Income has been boosted by three factors. First, there has been a surge in revenue from player sales. All transfer fees are spread out over the lifetime of a player's contract so the most recent signings such as the goal keeper Alisson will not be included in the 20...

Morecambe have announced their 2018 results. Income was up 3% due to slightly higher attendances (average crowd 1,946) Turnover was £2.794m with hospitality contributing £539k. No sign of any players bought or sold for cash in the accounts, the club is reliant on borrowings, mainly from owners, which rose by £500k in 2018. The club lost over £1,000 a day. Total wage costs were just over £2m or 74 per cent of turnover. Since year end new owners G50 have put in £750k of shares and committed to fund the club until the end of 2019/20.

Former Blackpool star Paul Stewart has confirmed that he is fronting a consortium that is seeking to buy the club from Owen Oyston: Blackpool bid Stewart stated that if the bid succeeded Oyston would not be allowed any role at the club. As expected, any deal is complicated by the 2017 High Court ruling which sees Oyston still owing more than £25m to former club director Valeri Belokon.A three-day window for a court date has been agreed for next month to discuss the possibility of Belokon’s lawyers appointing a Court Receiver.

With their future once again threatened as they have nowhere to play next season, the plight of Coventry City was once again the subject of a debate in the House of Commons. The Sports Minister Mims Davies said her department would speak to all parties involved in the dispute in an attempt to bring them together and find a resolution – but stopped short of promising direct Government intervention. 'It is my belief that the Government should not involve themselves directly in the fortunes of any individual club, but more and more we are being dragged into these types of disputes,' Davies told MPs. 'This cannot become the norm. It suggests that perhaps football is not able to govern itself—something we need to be ready to tackle.' Read more here: Crisis cannot become the norm

An in depth look at the finances of Swansea City through an interview with chief operating officer Chris Pearlman. The Swans have engaged in some severe cost cutting since relegation from the Premier League: Swansea City Pearlman said that 'the Swans are still "literally paying" for the mistakes they made while trying to stay in the Premier League and he also warns there could be a need for further savings.' Swansea are still paying off transfers from previous seasons. Previous player sales have only made up for a fraction of the club's revenue deficit. Turnover has dropped from £120m to £60m and parachute payments have to be used to meet obligations to players still under contract. The club's majority American owners will not make a gift of money to the club but will consider put in extra share capital. Pearlman said that would be likely to mean a dilution of shares, which is potentially problematic as the club's supporters trust own a 21.1% share...

Arsenal announced the end of austerity in 2013. This month Arsenal cannot compete with any club for any permanent signing because, quite simply, the money is not there. It will be a loan or two, at best, a situation that bewilders fans. An article in The Guardian states: 'The club’s most recently published accounts, for the six months ended November 2017, showed a profit before tax of £25.1m and cash reserves of £160.7m – including debt service reserves of £23m, which are not available for football purposes. This time last year Arsenal were listed at No 6 on Deloitte’s world football money league. What is going on?' 'The fundamental reality under Stan Kroenke, who has been the majority shareholder since April 2011 – the club are wedded to a self-financing business model. What comes out must first have been generated from within.' That self-funding has been hit by being in the Europa League, producing something of a vicious circle. Read the full article here: Arse...

Kieran Maguire of the PriceofFootball comments on Kilmarnock's latest accounts: 'The club runs to a shoestring budget, amazing that they can be one point off the top of the SPFL at present, amazing achievement.' Income was static, wages up, a million in the bank, no money spent on players and no debt. For every £1 earned by Killie last season Celtic made £20 and Rangers FC £6.40. Kilmarnock are the only club reporting to date to show no income growth. Kilmarnock's wage bill rose 42% taking average earnings to £1,400 a week. Still the second lowest of clubs who have shown figures. For every £1 paid by Kilmarnock Celtic pay £19.12 and Rangers £7.77. The wages to income ratio was up from 43% to 62% which is above the 50 per cent level recommended by Deloitte, but not dangerously so. Higher wages and flat income turned profit in 2017 to loss in 2018 for the club. SPFL clubs who have reported have shown a combined profit of £3m in 2017/18, this compares to a staggering £5...

An in depth critical look at the Premier League which is an extract from a new book The Club : Deluge of money nearly broke the Premier League The article argues that in 2018 'the Premier League had split into a morass of feuding factions that were each blaming somebody else for threatening to blow the whole thing up. The big six clubs wanted a larger slice of the pie. The other 14 felt left behind.' The argument was, of course, all about how the increasingly lucrative overseas broadcast money was distributed. When the Premier League started it had to pay overseas broadcasters to take its content.

Kieran Maguire of the PriceofFootball takes an in depth look at the latest Chelsea accounts: The Lion Sleeps Tonight He concludes, 'The biggest fly in the ointment is Roman Abramovich and his intentions. He has invested a huge amount in the club and clearly has some affection for it, but his lack of appearances at the ground for the last year and the decision to not go ahead with a new stadium leaves Chelsea falling behind the rest of the pack potentially in future years.' 'Using the Markham Multivariate Model we value Chelsea presently at about £2.8 billion, but that value is likely to fall if the club cannot maintain the level of profits on player sales and qualify for the Champions League.'

Improved governance, increased revenues and innovative financing are leading to an increased interest by overseas investors in Italian clubs, traditionally in the ownership of families: Serie A

Being a lower league club in Greater Manchester is particularly challenging. This is certainly the case for Bury, 30 minutes by Metrolink from City and United. Fans had to rattle the buckets for funds when the club faced insolvency in 2001. Stewart Day, a Blackburn-based property developer, stepped in to save the club in 2013, but his tenure will be remembered for unpaid bills, HMRC winding up orders and a wage bill that crept beyond £4m in an attempt to reach the Championship. A series of loans were taken out, often at exorbitant interest rates, to cover losses of £50,000 a week and players were played late as recently as November. Last month Day sold the club to Steve Dale, a Cheshire-based businessman. Debts are to repaid or consolidated and there are plans to rebuild the social club, bring concessions in house and develop Bury's Carrington training complex which was vacated by Manchester City in 2014.

The authoritative Swiss Ramble has taken a close look at Chelsea's latest accounts and concludes that their 'business model is far more reliant on player sales than any other major English club. In the last five years, they made a hefty £337m from this activity with only Tottenham Hotspur anywhere near them (£192m in four years).' 'Their £113m profit on player sales is actually the highest ever made by an English club, ahead of Spurs 2013/14 £104m and Everton 2017/18 £88m. In fact, three of the six highest ever profits from this activity have been reported by Chelsea.' One person commented, 'I guess it explains why Chelsea have so many players on the books but out on loan. If they’re making so much money from player sales then they need some stock to put in the window and sell.' Chelsea's figures have frequently suffered from so-called exceptional items, which have increased costs by an amazing £208m since 2005, largely early termination of shirt spon...

Roman Abramovich pumped another £63.1m into Chelsea last season despite the club making a record profit, although this was reliant on player sales. Abramovich has put money into Chelsea every year since he became owner in 2003. Nevertheless, his investment is surprising given that Chelsea made a profit of £62m last season with a record turnover of £443.4m, up £22.7m. The size of Chelsea's debt to Abramovich has now grown to £1.13 billion. A sign of the times in that Abramovich didn’t pay for his hospitality box in 2017/18 as a hostile London environment to Russian oligarchs resulted in him rarely being seen in London. The wage bill was up 11 per cent to £244.1m as new players signed on big contracts. This represented an acceptable 55 per cent of turnover. Directors pay more than tripled. Chelsea spent a net £125m on transfers last summer. Their squad was valued at £843m, up from £445m the previous year. Kieran Maguire of the PriceofFootball reveals, 'Chelsea financial...

Kieran Maguire of the PriceofFootball takes an in depth look at the finances of troubled Bolton Wanderers: What's the frequency Kenneth? Maguire comments, 'Bolton’s is a sad tale, a once proud club whose name is continually being dragged into the mud. Fans just want to be able to see their team play some decent football with the certainty that there will still be a club in a month’s time, and that certainty is not presently guaranteed.' 'Straight answers are what are required to allay fears, but Anderson’s approach is one of snide whatabouttery in his Chairman’s notes column in the club program and website, which will I suspect result in a further loss of goodwill to a club that needs support from everyone in the game. Anderson’s motives are unclear.' 'If he wants to run the club then surely he should expect that it will lose money in the Championship, so whining about having to cover wages makes him no different to any other club owner in the division. His ...

Southend United have been issued with a winding up order by HMRC over unpaid tax. This follows a decade of financial difficulties at the club: Winding up order The club have been regulars in London's insolvency courts over the last decade, once receiving four winding-up petitions in a six-month spell in 2010. Southend's fans had hoped those days were behind them when owner Ron Martin settled the last outstanding tax bill in May 2016. This petition will be heard on February 6th. Southend have been trying to move from their Roots Hall home to a new development at Fossetts Farm, on the edge of the Essex town, for over 20 years.

Tonight's Fans Forum at Charlton Athletic confirmed that there have been serious talks about a takeover of the club this week, involving Roland Duchatelet's representative (Lieven de Turck), but no deal is in sight: Takeover update The report of the Forum meeting confirmed that the talks have not been a mirage imagined by Talksport's Jim White or invented by fanzine editor Rick Everitt. However, one interpretation is that Duchatelet has used them, and in particular Jim White, to put pressure on the second (British) bidders as well as the primary Australian/American consortium. They are supposedly now in 'sixth gear', hopefully going forward and not in reverse. I have always been sceptical about this group of bidders, particularly in terms of their finances. The other bidders seem to be continue to be either phantoms or time wasters. It is unusual for talks on a club's takeover to go on for so long.

Manchester United will open three so-called 'experience centres' in China by 2020. One of them will be adjacent to Beijing's iconic Tinanmen Square. The objective is to capitalise on the club's fan base in the world's most populous country. Arsenal are ahead of them as they opened a Shanghai bar festooned with sports memorabilia last year. As well as Beijing, the centres will be in Shanghai and the north-eastern city of Shenyang. This might seem a surprising choice, but the centres are being built in partnership with Harves, a little-known Chinese property developer based in Shenyang. The centres will offer 'interactive and immersive experiences, using start of the art technology to bring Manchester United to life.' (I thought that was Ole Gunnar Solskjar's job). The venues will include restaurants and club retail stores, the latter presumably being important contributors to the revenue stream. Simon Chadwick, professor of sport enterprise at Sa...

The new Tottenham Hotspur stadium at White Hart Lane will not be ready until at least March (2019): Another delay The required test events are yet to be scheduled. The club fears that they will not be able to move into the stadium until mid-March at the earliest. It might be possible to open the stadium for the match against Crystal Palace on March 16th, but certainly not for the Arsenal derby on March 2nd. A club statement read, 'We have now received a post-Christmas/New Year update from the contractors involved in the critical safety systems at our new stadium. The past month has seen remedial works take place, software issues resolved and corrected safety equipment installations increase. Testing has also continued.'

The authoritative Swiss Ramble takes a close look at the recently published accounts of Birmingham City. They have consistently lost money, only reporting a profit once in the last six seasons – and that was just £1m in 2014/15. Since then, the losses have been growing: £5m in 2015/16; £16m in 2016/17; and £37m in 2017/18. Total losses since 2008/09 are £83m. The loss before tax more than doubled from £16.4m to a barely credible £37.4m, primarily due to massive investment in the squad: wages rose £16.1m (71%) from £22.5m to £38.6m. Of course, it is difficult for clubs in the Championship without parachute payments to compete with those who receive them. Eight clubs benefitted from them in 2017/18, three of them receiving £42m. The only season that the club reported a significant profit in recent years was £16m in 2011/12, which was very largely due to £22m of once-off player sales (Johnson, Dann, Gardner, Beausejour, Jerome & Ridgewell). In the six years since, club only had £...

The idea of Premier League clubs having 'B' teams in the Football League is deeply unpopular with most fans, but it keeps being revived, this time by the chief executive of the City Football Group which includes Manchester City: Larger clubs would benefit He says that younger players would benefit from playing in a B team although, more significantly, points out there would be a financial incentive. We did, of course, once have something called the 'reserves' but the 'stiffs' were not popular either with players or fans. Only the really dedicated, or perhaps the really sad, turned out for their games. 'B' teams are permitted in Spain, although they have different names from the club. Real Madrid's 'B' team is called Castilla and they even reached the Copa del Ray final and got into European competition: Castilla So Arsenal could have a second team called Islington Borough and Manchester United could have one called Salford City. Oh, ...

The adequacy of the English Football League's fit and proper person tests has once again been called into question by recent events at Bolton Wanderers. Ken Anderson, who took over at Bolton in 2016, was previously disqualified from being a director for eight years. Anderson, who bought Bolton for £1, was disqualified from being a company director in 2005 for transgressions relating to eight companies including diverting or seeking to divert company funds into a personal account, VAT discrepancies and failing to cooperate with receivers. The Professional Footballers' Association had to provide a loan to the club in December to cover wages for that month and November. Bolton Whites Hotel Ltd., of which Anderson is the only director, is subject to an outstanding winding up petition from HMRC over unpaid taxes. The accounts for Bolton's parent company, Burnden Leisure, show that Anderson was paid £525,000 in consultancy fees for the 2016/17 season. Burnden Leisure also p...

Recent months have been an unhappy time for Bolton Wanderers fans, although media attention has been limited, possibly because they are not in London or Manchester. Trotters Blog reviews the situation: Statement on recent events It states, 'The name of Bolton Wanderers has been dragged into the mud continuously in recent times. This once proud football club has been subject to humilation with winding up orders and failure to pay the wages of the players and staff.' Forest Green Rovers had to recall a loan player from Bolton Wanderers after the club's owner Ken Anderson allegedly failed to honour transfer or pay player wages. Anderson did pay himself £525k & his son £125k recently for ‘consultancy services’ though.

Jim White has been updating the position on the Charlton Athletic takeover on Talksport. He reaffirmed that today and tomorrow are crucial days, that talks are imminent (stressing the word 'imminent'), later defined as the next 12 hours, and the mood is positive. It was all 'very sensitive'. White visited The Valley on Saturday. He spoke of the torture that fans had been enduring for so long and interviewed fanzine editor Rick Everitt. He tracked down Sunderland's owner in the away end, noting that there could not be a greater contrast between two owners with Roland Duchatelet absent again. He replayed an excerpt from his interview with the Belgian, noting that he was insistent that he wanted to sell the club. White said that his respect for Charlton fans had grown. Charlton fans loved the club and it was a massive part of their lives. White said that the money could be unlocked in the next round of talks.

Tottenham Hotspur are hoping to hear a move in date for their new stadium at a meeting between Daniel Levy and contractors today: Move in date Levy was due to meet Mace, the project’s building manager, and leading contractors to discover if testing on the ground's critical safety systems has been successful. The club need to successfully hold two tests events, the latter at close to full capacity, before being issued with a safety certificate from the FA.

The authoritative Swiss Ramble has now turned his attention to the cash flow of Championship clubs over the last decade. Admittedly there are some gaps in the evidence but no one would disagree when he says, 'The main conclusion is clear, namely the Championship is a division where most clubs require significant financing from their owners, largely to cover operating losses and fund player purchases, as they strive to reach the (wealthier) heights of the Premier League.' Despite the challenges in the Championship, some clubs have still managed to increase their bank balance over the last 10 years, led by Aston Villa £21m, Wigan £13m, Cardiff City £9m and (maybe surprisingly) Preston North End £8m. Despite high levels of debt in the Championship, much is provided by owners interest-free with no scheduled repayment dates. In this way, loan and interest payments are only £281m, compared to £1.7 bln in the Premier League. Thanks to the generosity of owner Tony Bloom, Brighton a...

Key financial figures comparing Newport to Leicester provided by Kieran Maguire of the PriceofFootball. Leicester City earned £100.60 for every £1 of income made by Newport. The Foxes spent £101,887,000 on players compared to Newport's £3.600, It took Leicester 6 days 21 hours to pay Newport's annual wage bill. Newport County's annual wage bill is £895,000 and turnover is £2.2m. That's a healthy 41 per cent of turnover, well below the recommended 50 per cent figure. The Exiles will get about £300,000 from their win and television fees. Their share of the away takings at a big club would give their finances a further boost. Kieran Maguire comments on the Foxes, 'If you are wondering why Leicester put out a half-hearted team for yesterday's match at Newport, winning the 3rd round of a FA Cup tie is worth £135,000, every extra game over 10 shown on TV in the Premier League is worth £1.13m and every additional final place in the PL table is worth £1.93m.' ...

The South Stand at Tottenham Hotspur's new stadium is so high that the club are planning to station first aiders with oxygen in the top few rows. This is not because of the altitude but because of the climb fans will face. The 17,500-capacity stand, which has been modelled on Borussia Dortumund's 'Yellow Wall', and will become the largest single tier stand in the country, extends to more than 80 rows. Newcastle United might have thought about this for their away seats - and perhaps provided binoculars.

Charlton fanzine editor Rick Everitt has tweeted, 'The substantial money behind the Charlton takeover bid is American, I have heard tonight, although it’s still Aussie fronted.' Another social media report states 'New Charlton owners are Scott Farquar and Mike Cannon-Brooks. They are the Sydney-based founders of software giant Atlassian. Nothing to do with "time waster" Andrew Muir. Both very, very rich.' No doubt there will be some more twists and turns in this long running saga.

Talksport is reporting that Charlton Athletic will be sold by Monday or Tuesday of next week. The Australian consortium has passed the fit and proper person test. Proof of funds has been confirmed. Jim White said on Talksport, 'Charlton fans can get it into their heads - this is happening. He’s on his way out. He’s going. It’s happening as we speak.'

Birmingham City have published their financial results for 2017/18. The club lost £746,000 a week in 2017/18 as the Harry Redknapp spending spree impacted upon player costs. Birmingham City paid out £202 in wages for every £100 of revenue in 2017/18, factor in transfer fees too and this increases to £243 of player costs for every £100 of income. Even by the standards of the Championship, where on average clubs pay out £103 in wages for every £100 of income, Birmingham's wage control level tops the table by a huge margin. Birmingham City had to borrow just under £40m from the owners in 2017/18 to keep the club afloat. Birmingham City small print to the accounts confirms that club are hoping to hear the financial fair play (FFP) verdict in February. Kieran Maguire of the PriceofFootball estimates, after adding back allowables on 'good' spending for FFP purposes such as infrastructure, academy, community and women's football spending, is that Birmingham exceeded the F...

Rumours of an imminent takeover at Charlton Athletic are a regular occurrence, but the latest ones do seem to have some substance to them. Here Voice of the Valley fanzine editor Rick Everitt tries to make some sense of what is going on: Waiting and hoping

The authoritative Swiss Ramble has been making good use of the festive break to provide a decade long overview of the cash flow of Premier League clubs. In the 10 years between 2008 and 2017 Premier League clubs had over £8 bn of available cash with more than half (£4.3 bn) generated from their own operating activities and a further £3.4 bn from their owners (loans £1.8 bn and shares £1.6 bn) plus £0.3 bn external loans. 54% of cash came from operations (revenue less expenses +/- movements in working capital) with another 42% from owner financing and 3% from external loans. Unsurprisingly, the Big Six clubs have enjoyed by far the most cash: Manchester United £1.6 bn, Manchester City £1.4 bn, Tottenham Hostpur £837m, Arsenal £754m, Liverpool £645m and Chelsea £607m. However, these clubs have very different business models, e.g. Manchester United £1.3 bn from operations, Manchester City £1.3 bn from owners. So three of the Big Six clubs have been largely financed by cash generated f...

The young player harvesting strategy of Chelsea that has helped make the club profits of £398 million so far this decade, notes Kieran Maguire of the PriceofFootball. Quite how the players feel about being loaned out or warming the bench in terms of their career development is another matter, but they are getting well paid for it. In contrast, Manchester United have only made £73m of profit on player sales this decade, despite spending over £1 billion on signings since 2010-11. It highlights hit and miss recruitment policy, according to Maguire. Newcastle under Mike Ashley have made profits on player sales of £130 million (but this doesn't include 2017/18 figures).

The January transfer window is notorious for not offering value, but this does not mean that we will not see some last minute panic buying, not least by clubs seeking to avoid relegation and the loss of Premier League riches. However, it is mainly second tier players that are likely to be available and even struggling clubs may be reluctant to spend. Clubs are reluctant to part with genuine assets at this stage of the season, leading to inflated transfer fees and wages. Loan deals may be the solution for some clubs, e.g., Crystal Palace are hoping to lure Dominic Solanke from Liverpool for the rest of the season. It seems unlikely that clubs will match the £431m spent last year. Most of the top tier clubs have indicated they have no plans for big signings. It looks like being a transfer window when clubs near the bottom will be most active, but they will face the challenge of buying in a seller's market. Most clubs will limit themselves to small tweaks, taking a small financ...