04 May 2021 13:18:26
Reading this morning that if Haaland moves this summer whichever club signs him is going to have to find an additional 40 million euros over and above the transfer fee, 20 million for Haaland's dad and 20 million for his agent! Whilst I know agents have been part of the game for a number of years the amount of money being taken out of the game by these people is ridiculous, to me it's one of a number of reasons why football needs to be regulated. If we are not careful the bubble is going to burst and clubs including big names will go to the wall, it would only take some of these wealthy owners to tire of football, walk away and some clubs would be in very deep trouble, that's why I do worry a little about the size of our debt which is likely to grow if the rumours of a big summer spend are true. I know our owners have been up front with plans and have been true to there word however if they were to have a 'Randy Lerner' moment and decide to pull back investment and we might end up with another Dr Tony god forbid.

{Ed002's Note - The figures are not exactly what is being asked for but the numbers are indeed very high and very significant fees can be paid to agents and other third parties. Clubs need to be self-sustaining as far as is possible - and that is the reason why FFP exists.}

1.) 04 May 2021
04 May 2021 13:32:22
Atleast it’s not like Neymars Dad and there’s a few brasses included😂.

2.) 04 May 2021
04 May 2021 13:44:44
That’s one of the reasons I posed the question the other day about would we sell any of our players if the fees were right. So if we received a large bid for Jack we could utilise half the fee to re invest, and half to reduce the debt, I am sure that won’t be a popular view with a lot on this site but we can’t just keep spending money which if we are honest we don’t have/ generate.

3.) 04 May 2021
04 May 2021 14:31:23
Good point John, It doesn`t have to be popular though does it mate, the real question is if its viable, and if it works for the good of the club, (selling Jack) I mean.
I also agree with you 100% John, about people bleeding the game of money, I have also said on here, that if we continue the way we are, football will be finished.
I can only see it imploding, thus the game will be no more, as we know it anyway.

4.) 04 May 2021
04 May 2021 16:58:17
I agree Dave and it is a worry. I know ideally we would want to keep Jack, and I would as well, but you can’t keep throwing money you don’t actually have at the recruitment of new players and think there won’t be a payback . So if we sold Jack, re invested half and say sold Martinez and replaced him with Heaton and again used that money to offset our debt would the team be that much weaker? If our recruitment was good I would argue not necessarily however one thing would be for certain financially we would be a lot more secure than we are now.

5.) 04 May 2021
04 May 2021 17:15:54
I like your analogy John, it does makes some sense.
As you say better if we can get round it some other way, after all we do have some dead wood onboard that would help balance things out a bit.

6.) 04 May 2021
04 May 2021 18:00:50
Do you think we aren’t financially secure at the moment John?

7.) 04 May 2021
04 May 2021 18:02:38
Hopefully in a couple of years it'll be a moot point when the revamped academy starts churning out a constant conveyor belt of talent. I think ultimately that's the aim.

8.) 04 May 2021
04 May 2021 18:18:13
Chris, I guess my honest answer is I don’t know but I read reports that our debt is £99 million or there abouts and that makes me shudder, as I said earlier our owners have been as good as there word to date, but Randy Lerner was for a while and I just hope NSWE are really in for the long haul as I wouldn’t want us to go the way of Leeds or latterly Portsmouth I may be worrying unnecessarily I certainly hope so and as I say our owners have given me no reason to suppose they will jump ship I guess I am just of a nervous disposition 😩.

Moose I agree on the academy up to a point but it will be interesting to see what happens with Chukwuemeka because if he decides to seek pastures new in the summer because he has no faith that he has a pathway into the first team then I am not sure the academy will deliver what we all hope it will.

9.) 04 May 2021
04 May 2021 19:12:15
John it's important, especially if he's wanted by some big clubs, that we give him some exposure before the season ends, wet his appetite so to speak and convince him, and others, that Villa is the place to be.

10.) 04 May 2021
04 May 2021 19:29:24
Agreed Moose I just hope the club see it that way.

11.) 04 May 2021
04 May 2021 20:05:52
A substitute appearance and getting the winner against Utd would be a good start 👍.

12.) 04 May 2021
04 May 2021 21:06:11
Fair enough John.

The accounts were released a week ago for the tax year ending May 2020, the clubs debt is zero pounds, zero pence. The owners wiped it, and are committed to keeping the club debt free moving forward.

The 99million you mentioned was the operating loss for the year, not debt against the club, the operating loss for the tax year ending may 2021 will be higher than this as the results just released still have half a season of fans in stadiums, obviously for the last 12 months we haven’t had that.

However you compare our results/ standing with that of other premier league clubs and we are in brilliant condition, and you shouldn’t have any worry of a Portsmouth, Leeds type situation👍

I’ve said it before and still stick by it, losing the play off final to Fulham a few years back was the best thing to happen to this club in decades!