Roma caught between a rock and a hard place

AS Roma’s pre-tax loss increased by €35m from €184m to €219m in 2021/22, the highest in the club’s history. Revenue was basically flat at €196m, while operating expenses rose €37m (10%) to €391m, though net interest payable fell by a third (€12m) from €36m to €24m.

Roma’s massive €219m net loss was not the worst in Italy in 2021/22, as it was surpassed by Juventus’ €237m (restated after their accounting shenanigans). Inter also posted a large loss of €137m, while the losses at Napoli €66m and Milan €60m almost looked respectable in comparison.

It is worth noting that Roma are now responsible for three of the eight worst losses in Serie A history. Their €219m loss in 2021/22 was actually the third highest ever in Italy. Roma are no strangers to losing money, as they have suffered losses 13 years in a row, adding up to a horrific €893m. The last time that they posted a pre-tax profit was back in 2009 – and that was only €3m.

Profit from player sales has dried up in the last three years with just €14m made in this period, which has had an obvious impact on Roma’s bottom line. This is significantly lower than the €278m they generated in the preceding 3-year period.   This season should be a bit better after the sales of Nicolo Zaniolo to Galatasaray, Jordan Veretout to Marseille and Felix Afena-Gyan to Cremonese.

To further illustrate how poor Roma’s player trading has been, their €14m profit from player sales is by some distance the worst in Serie A in the last three years. In contrast, six clubs have delivered more than €100m in this period, led by Juventus €225m, Inter €167m and Atalanta €157m.

Roma’s €57m revenue reduction since 2018 is easily the worst performance of any leading Italian club. Napoli had a (smaller) €20m decrease, but every other club has grown its revenue, especially Atalanta €85m, Milan €54m and Inter €35m.

European participation is extremely important for Roma, but the drop-off in their revenue in the last three seasons, when they failed to qualify for the Champions League, is stark. They averaged €71m income in 2018 and 2019, compared to just €20m since then, even though they have been reasonably successful on the pitch.

Roma’s €183m wages are still the third highest in Serie A, though only around half of Juventus’ €337m and a fair way below Inter’s €248m. However, they were higher than both last year’s champions Milan €170m and this year’s champions elect Napoli €130m, so the club has arguably under-performed.

Roma are effectively caught between a rock and a hard place, as they require significant investment to compete (and to meet Jose Mourinho’s expectations), but they cannot really afford to spend big if they want to improve their finances and meet UEFA’s FFP targets.

However, if they do manage to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in five years, then their finances would look a lot better. Whether that’s enough to prevent another loss is debatable, unless their player trading also improves.