Liverpool has launched an unexpectedly large cost-cutting operation this summer, and that may be why it’s ready to go big for Southampton midfielder Roméo Lavia.
Liverpool might have ranked third behind Manchester City and Real Madrid for total revenue in this year’s Deloitte Money League, but its profits were deceptively small.
Indeed, the Reds’ latest accounts showed that they generated a net $9.1m (£7.5m/€8.6m) return pre-tax, and those slim margins can largely be explained by the club’s mammoth wage bill.
In 2021/22, it reached a staggering $443m (£366m/€417m), a 17 per cent increase from the season before amid the Reds’ quadruple push.
The good news is that figure should be considerably lower in the 2023/24 accounts as a result of a summer exodus
Fabinho’s $51m (£40m/€40m) move to Saudi Pro League side Al-Ittihad, which has now been confirmed, will be the most lucrative, and with Jordan Henderson (Al-Ettifaq), Roberto Firmino, Naby Keïta and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (free agents) all leaving too, Liverpool is set to save in excess of $50m (£39m/€45m) over the next 12 months, based on FBRef/Capology figures.
It’s worth stressing too that this doesn’t account for the bonuses those players would have received had they stayed put (Liverpool contracts are heavily incentivized). Nor does it include James Milner because we’re without a verified estimate in his case (though it wouldn’t have been too sizeable because he accepted reduced terms in his final year).
There will likely be further savings as a result of Fábio Carvalho and Calvin Ramsay leaving on loan for RB Leipzig and Aberdeen, and Arthur’s time at the club coming to an end, though the exact salary splits in each case aren’t known
Of course, Liverpool has taken on the contracts of Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai too, but that won’t fill the huge $50m+ space it has opened up for incomings. Indeed, Liverpool tends to put new players on mid-tier deals before upgrading them at a later date if they earn it, and neither midfielder would have been earning elite-level Premier League money at their previous clubs.
Liverpool knew its wage outlook would improve this summer as four players reached the end of their deals, but not to this extent, given that Henderson and Fabinho were both expected to stay. As recently as July, club sources were boasting to The Athletic about having nine options after signing Szoboszlai, and journalist Neil Jones was reporting that the light was ‘red’ on any departure for Fabinho (via Empire of the Kop).
Liverpool looks set to replace the Belgian with 19-year-old Southampton midfielder Roméo Lavia, with Paul Joyce of The Times reporting that the Reds will table an improved offer for Jürgen Klopp’s ‘prime target’ after an initial proposal was rejected
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