Liverpool is "expected to become the first club in the world to report an annual net profit" of more than €100M ($114M), new estimates predict, according to Tom Morgan of the London TELEGRAPH. The record finances "come largely thanks to a Champions League final spot" in '18 worth €81.3M and the sale of Philippe Coutinho in Jan. 18 to Barcelona, valued by some experts at €130M. Having failed to qualify for Europe's elite competition in '16-17, the Champions League run "will be recorded as pure top-line growth," according to calculations by Inside World Football. Turnover, which reached £364M in '16-17, could soar to more than £450M ($583M) when accounts are published by Companies House in March, according to the estimate. The calculations come after a UEFA report on club finances "hinted Liverpool have broken" a profits record set by Leicester City in '17 (TELEGRAPH, 1/21). In London, Martyn Ziegler reported although Liverpool "spent heavily" in the '17-18 season -- with Virgil van Dijk joining for £75M, plus Mohamed Salah, Naby Keïta, Andrew Robertson and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain -- "only a proportion of their transfer fees will appear in the accounts for that year." For clubs' accounts, all transfer fees "are spread out across the length of a player’s contract" -- a process known as amortization (LONDON TIMES, 1/21).
