The sale of Luis Suárez to Barcelona has helped Liverpool record a profit of £60M ($84.5M), the club’s annual accounts released on Tuesday show, according to John Thompson of the LIVERPOOL ECHO. That is £59M ($83M) up on the previous year, "when the Reds recorded a modest profit just shy" of £1M -- "the first time the club had been back in the black for seven years." The "reluctant sale" of Suárez came when Barcelona "triggered a release clause on his long term Liverpool deal." The club stresses "all money received" for him "has been immediately reinvested in the squad." The figures also reveal owner Fenway Sports Group has written off a huge £69M ($97M) club debt -- "taking it off the books and the balance sheet and converting it into equity in the club." That effectively means FSG "will only get that money back" should it ever sell the club and wish to take it. FSG, however, has "no intention of selling the Reds" and remains "long term committed to rebuilding the club and seeing it compete at the top level in England and in Europe." Liverpool said that "all three main revenue streams -- media revenue, commercial revenue and matchday revenue -- have continued to grow" (LIVERPOOL ECHO, 3/1). The PA's Carl Markham reported the club's commercial revenue increased by 12% to £116.3M following the announcement of 12 new partnerships and renewals "and the opening of 180 new retail outlets worldwide." Media revenue grew from £100.9M to £122.6M due to participation in the '14-15 Champions League and reaching the semifinals of the FA and League Cups, "which also had the knock-on effect of boosting matchday revenue" by 15.9% to £59M because of the additional matches and hospitality income (PA, 3/1).
KLOPP TO OVERHAUL ROSTER: In London, Andy Hunter reported Liverpool said that Manager Jürgen Klopp "will be given substantial funds to overhaul his squad this summer" after the club’s latest accounts underlined the "financial recovery." Liverpool CEO Ian Ayre described the accounts as "a good set of numbers." He said that the financial growth, before a season that will bring record domestic broadcasting revenue and an increased capacity at Anfield, "will support Klopp as he plans major improvements in the playing staff this summer." Bayern Munich’s Mario Götze, Udinese midfielder Piotr Zielinski and Leicester City left-back Ben Chilwell "are all targets for a manager who has already recruited Schalke’s central defender Joël Matip and Red Star Belgrade’s playmaker Marko Grujic for next season." Ayre: "There has never been a situation where we haven’t backed the manager and there will be no difference with Jürgen as we move forward towards the summer" (GUARDIAN, 3/1). In London, Chris Bascombe reported the increase in profit "takes in the sale" of Suárez to Barcelona "and does not include the spending spree that followed under former manager Brendan Rodgers in June, July and August of that summer." Football clubs "absorb the full proceeds of a player’s sale in their accounts, but the costs of an incoming transfer are spread over the course a new recruit’s contract." After the recent criticism of Liverpool’s owners when they backed down on ticket pricing, Ayre said that the accounts "underline the point that FSG keep pumping money into Liverpool but have never taken any out." Ayre: "That was evident in these results as we made £60 million and the money all went back into the squad which was invested in last summer. There is no extraction of any of that profit in any form. The owners said in their note to fans about ticketing that has been their process throughout. All they have done is put money in and not taken a penny out. That continues" (TELEGRAPH, 3/1).
