Man City become first British club to post £400m wage bill

Manchester City have revealed the price of last season’s historic treble after becoming the first club in British football history to spend more than £400 million ($498 million) on annual wages.

The reigning Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup champions reported record revenues of £712.8 million – an increase of £99.8 million ($124 million) compared to the previous year – in the club’s annual report for the 2022-23 season. The city’s profits increased to £80.4 million, up from £41.7 million the previous year.

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City continue to contest 115 charges in the Premier League, spanning a nine-year period from 2009, for breaching the league’s Financial Fair Play rules.

The club’s skyrocketing wage bill has seen salary costs, including striker Erling Haaland’s £45 million annual salary, rise by £69 million to a total of £422.9 million last year. last season, although the club employed 56 fewer footballers than the previous year.

City added Haaland, Julián Álvarez and Kalvin Phillips to their squad in the 2022 summer transfer window and landed Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko. The club’s salary costs have also been increased by the payment of bonuses to players following winning all three competitions last season.

In contrast to City’s record wage bill, neighbors Manchester United last month reported an annual wage bill of £331.4m – £91.8m less than the wage costs at the Etihad Stadium.

And by reporting revenues of £712.8 million, City also eclipsed the previous British record of £648.4 million posted by United in its annual figures last month.

“The 2022-23 season has seen Manchester City reach new heights and set new benchmarks,” City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said in a statement.

“In short, last season Manchester City achieved the greatest footballing and commercial year in its storied history.”

City saw year-on-year growth across all commercial, matchday and broadcast revenue sources.

Commercial revenue accounted for £341.4 million, followed by broadcast at £299.4 million, then matchday at £71.9 million, for a profit of £80.4 million. pounds sterling, almost double the previous year’s record profit of £41.7 million.

Match day revenue saw an increase of £17.4 million (32%) with 99% occupancy at the Etihad and four additional home matches played in all competitions, although attendance average of 53,249 supporters over 19 Premier League matches, just below their record. of 54,130 established in 2018-19.

Broadcast revenue increased by £50.4 million on the previous year (20.2%), mainly due to the club reaching and winning the Champions League and World Cup finals. FA Cup.

Profits also benefited from significant player exchanges with £121.7 million generated from transfers, a significant increase of 79.8% on the previous 12 months.

City secured the top spot on the Brand Finance Football 50 list with a brand value of £1.51 billion, overtaking Real Madrid (£1.46 billion). United were fourth with £1.36 billion.

It was the first time an English club had secured the top spot since 2018, with the report citing City’s decade of dominance on the pitch and the highest revenues of any club in the report as the main reasons for their rise in the ranking.

City also topped the Deloitte Football Money League for the second year in a row with the highest revenue of any European football club, ahead of runners-up Madrid.

In early 2023, City were accused by the Premier League of more than 100 breaches of rules that required the club to provide “more financial information giving a true and fair view of the club’s financial situation”, the league said in a statement. press release of February 6. statement.

Wednesday’s financial report addresses the accusations, stating: “In February 2023, in response to the accusations, the Club issued a public statement welcoming the review of this matter by an independent commission, to thoroughly examine impartially all the irrefutable evidence that exists. to support his position.”

Information from Reuters contributed to this report.