The Premier League’s big clubs have recently announced their financial results for the 2024-25 season.
While football is decided on the pitch, these results off the pitch tend to give clues as to what direction the club is going in and what its transfer activity will look like in the coming years.
Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool all announced their details by the end of February, with West Ham joining them, with some surprising results revealed.
Sky Sports reporters look into every club’s accounts to reveal what we can learn from each…
Manchester United urgently need the Champions League
Man United’s 2024-25 season profit/loss: £33m loss Man United’s overall revenue: £666.5m (increase of £4.5m)
Manchester United’s latest reports show how important a return to Europe is for the club. If we want Manchester United to be great again, we need to play in the Champions League again as soon as possible.
The new expanded competition format means English clubs have each earned between £73 million and £86 million just by playing league games this season.
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Kaveh Solhekol analyzes Manchester United’s latest financial report
United are improving on and off the pitch, but it is too early to start celebrating the latest figures announced in New York.
Not being in Europe would be a financial disaster for most clubs, but United’s finances have managed to hold on despite their overall debt increasing to £1.29 billion despite no new stadium for their huge debt. Glazer’s long-term debt remains at £488m ($650m), with short-term debt of up to £295.7m and more than £500m in transfer fees.
As expected, United’s revenue for the six months to the end of December fell from £341.8m to £330.7m as a result of leaving Europe.
Matchday income fell by £2.8m to £75.7m as United played five fewer games at Old Trafford than in the final six months of the previous year. Higher ticket prices mean more revenue per match, with United still making more money on matchdays than any other club in England.
Labor costs fell by 9% to £75.1m in the final three months of last year due to the departure of several high-profile players. There is no mention of how much compensation Ruben Amorim was paid, as he was fired on January 5, shortly after the period covered by these reports.
Kaveh Solhekol
Liverpool spend more than Man City
Liverpool’s 2024-25 season profit/loss: £8m profit (after tax) Liverpool’s total income: £703m (increase of £89m)
After two consecutive years of pre-tax deficits, Liverpool are back in the black with £15.2m. This translates into record revenues of over £700m.
To summarize the season in which Liverpool won their 20th league title:
Media revenue increased by £60m to £264m Matchday revenue increased from £102m to £116m Commercial revenue increased by £15m to £323m Overall revenue increased by £89m to £703m Profit after tax increased by £8m
The biggest increase in media revenue was mainly due to Liverpool’s success in reaching the last 16 of the Champions League and winning the Premier League title, compared to the previous year’s Europa League quarter-finals. In fact, Liverpool were the most talked about club in the Premier League last season.
This was also the first full season that the new Anfield Road Stand was fully open, thus increasing match revenue. However, with record revenue growth, administrative costs have also increased significantly.
Spend on staff increased by £42m to £428m due to team performance bonuses from winning the title, renewals for Mo Salah and Virgil van Dijk, increased staff numbers and match day general and administrative costs.
Liverpool’s new deals for Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk have affected their finances – were they worth it?
These costs have more than doubled since the 2016/17 financial period and are now higher than Manchester City (£408m).
These figures do not take into account the £450m Liverpool spent on the likes of Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Milos Kerkes and Jeremy Frimpong in the summer, so these costs are expected to rise in the next set of accounts.
binnie o’connor
Chelsea don’t earn as much as their rivals
Chelsea’s 2024-25 season profit/loss: loss of £355m (before tax)*Chelsea’s overall revenue: £511m*
*According to UEFA
Chelsea’s record loss came in a season in which they won the UEFA Conference League and qualified for the Champions League.
Two months after the end of the 2024/25 season, they won the expanded Club World Cup in America, earning them up to £90 million.
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Gary Neville is perplexed by Chelsea, but says they still need an experienced striker and centre-back and a top-class goalkeeper.
In the past. The losses were supposed to be subsidized by former owner Roman Abramovich, but he was forced to sell the club and the regulatory landscape is now completely different than it was when the Russian billionaire took over.
Chelsea’s big problem, apart from the fact that they haven’t won any major trophies under their new owners, is that their revenue lags behind their main rivals.
Chelsea’s owners face challenges on a number of fronts. In the short term, their priority is to qualify for the Champions League again.
Despite Chelsea’s belief that their finances are improving, qualifying for the Champions League is more important than ever.
Kaveh Solhekol
Arsenal are doing well, but can they sell more players?
Arsenal’s 2024-25 season profit/loss: £1.4m loss Arsenal overall revenue: £691m (increase of £75.2m)
Arsenal are definitely growing financially. The 2024/25 season was close to breaking even, with a loss of just £1.4m. This is a positive sign, given that losses were more than £100m four years ago.
A big boost for the Gunners was a club-record £691m in revenue. As a fashion and merchandise specialist, Arsenal’s commercial income continued to be strong, with annual income increasing by 19% to £264.4m.
Arsenal announce club record income
According to Deloitte data, Arsenal’s commercial revenue has increased by 104% since 2021, the highest in football, almost double the average commercial revenue of the rest of the so-called ‘big six’.
The men’s team’s Champions League semi-final run also had an impact on broadcast revenue, with matchday revenue increasing to £154m, up from £272m last season.
This figure could increase even further next season, given that Arsenal reached the Carabao Cup final, the last stage of the FA Cup, and have a good route back to the European semi-finals. Matchday revenue will also increase as the women’s team plays more matches than ever at Emirates Stadium.
However, there is a downside to the extra games, as Arsenal reported a “rapid” increase in the cost of “other operating expenses”. That amount increased by £80m to reach £280m. The club said the increase was due to “increased staging costs, certain direct costs to realize increased revenue, certain residual property issues and inflationary pressures.”
Last season, Arsenal’s ability was well-represented. The ‘pure profit’ of £106m in player sales, including homegrown stars Emile Smith Rowe and Eddie Nketiah, resulted in a net outlay of just £18m and an overall net transfer debt of £125m.
This last figure is a significant reduction on the previous season’s £229m and could explain why Arsenal were able to spend so much money in the summer that just ended.
Arsenal’s labor costs rose by 19%, a lower rate of rise than last year, but the £15.2m loss in written-off player value (money not recouping the value of a particular player) points to the need to continue strong sales. This season they have failed to sell anyone for more than £5 million in the transfer market.
However, there are plenty of other ways to increase income in the coming years, with Arsenal set to renegotiate their Emirates Stadium catering deal this year and their Emirates shirt sponsorship deal in 2028. They are in a healthy position.
Sam Blitz
West Ham need to sell players, but could Bowen be one of them?
West Ham’s 2024/25 season profit/loss: £104.2m loss (before tax) West Ham’s total revenue: £228m (down £42m)
West Ham recorded losses of more than £100m in the 2024/25 financial year.
Regardless of what happens after the season, they will need to sell players to generate income. But life would be much easier if Nuno Espirito Santo could keep them in the Premier League.
What will West Ham do with Jarrod Bowen amid financial difficulties?
West Ham said: “We expect to run out of liquidity in the summer of 2026.” Simply put, they spend more than they earn.
They cite reasons for this including their status in the league, the lack of European football and lower profits from player sales. That was before what was described as a “harsh but plausible scenario” of them falling out of the Championship.
Thoughts immediately turn to the future of captain Jarrod Bowen. If the Hammers are relegated, one would imagine the England international would move on. But do these financial figures mean the Hammers will have to sell the 29-year-old at all costs even if they survive?
Bowen still has four years left on his contract with West Ham this summer, so he could still command a hefty transfer fee. Other players such as Crisencio Somerville could also be used to raise funds, but what will West Ham do?
Chris Reddy
What does relegation mean for Spurs?
Tottenham’s financial results for the 2024/25 season are expected to be announced by the end of March
Tottenham Hotspur’s relegation will be one of the biggest news stories in Premier League history. Rival clubs are foaming at the mouth at the idea.
It is simply unthinkable for a club of Tottenham’s size to slip into the Championship, but after countless defeats they are heading in that direction.
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Tim Sherwood says Spurs can’t blame injuries for their poor run and need to make changes to stay in the Premier League
Many say the Spurs have the best stadium in the world. They generate an average of £4.5m per match. Some Spurs players reportedly face pay cuts of up to 50 per cent if they are relegated, but how many players will remain at the club?
They will need to beat management targets. Will there be a new manager in the soccer world? Season ticket pricing details have already been announced. That too has to be dismantled.
Few people think relegation is a good thing because the club needs a reset, but some at board level may think it deserves it.
But the truth is that few people fully understand the implications of relegation for Spurs, and that such an upheaval in a short summer means immediate promotion is far from guaranteed.
michael bridge
