Summer Signings

[Hesperus]

ChatGPT answer.


Say we buy a player for £60m and give him a 5-year contract.

For accounting purposes:

£60m ÷ 5 years = £12m amortisation per year

So the club initially records:

Year 1 - 12 mill, year 2 - 12 mil. Etc

The £12m is an expense in each year's accounts, even though the club paid the £60m transfer fee upfront (or according to the payment schedule).

Why it matters when a player is sold

This is where football accounting gets particularly interesting.

Suppose after 2 years United sell the player for £50m.

His accounting/book value is:

£60m − £24m amortisation = £36m

They sell him for £50m, so they record a:

£50m − £36m = £14m profit

That £14m is recognised immediately in the accounts.

So you can have a situation where a club pays £60m for a player, has only recognised £24m of the cost as an expense, then sells him for £50m and reports a £14m accounting profit.

[reddishblue]

We need Swiss Tony here to create a spreadsheet to explain how this affects net spend over the last 5 years.