So do you think that we should focus on ,maximising profit from player development and sales or winning football matches?
There's obviously a lot of unknown and unforeseeable variables but if a player will help us to win games, and the owners and manager are happy with the price to be paid and still have the room to balance the squad in other areas, then I think that I'd be inclined to go along with their professional judgement.
We'll win some and we'll lose some on both sides (games and gambles) but that's the nature of the beast.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, I can't believe how wound up some "experts" on here get over the financials when they know nothing at all about the clubs strategy or finances.
If these owners have spent over £100m, which we know they have, the they will undoubtedly have a strategy whether they communicate it or not.
This is absolutely spot on. While everybody on here guesses at numbers before accounts are published, we have professionals in the club who know exactly what the numbers are, what the investment budget is, and where we sit opposite current and projected financial rule restrictions. They know who we want, they know roughly what they will cost, and they know what the budget is. I for one hope that they are sensibly maximising our spend ( without creating future risk) in investing in the players that we need right now to deliver on the short and medium term ambitions of the club.
Of course we need to make money from transfers - and we do - but the route to financial growth rests squarely on promotion. Profits on player sales are dwarfed by the rewards of promotion to the Premier League. Folk whinge on about losing money on Berge, Ndiaye, McBurnie etc….but those players delivered financial benefits to the club that are way in excess of what we might have got for them in the transfer market by selling earlier, by getting us promoted to the Premier League.
If we are to grow as a club, we have to increase our revenue stream such that the owners can invest more in playing assets while remaining within the financial rules of the game. Promotion is the key to this revenue growth.
And it isn’t either black or white as imagined by many - we need a blend of experienced pros who’s main value is in seeking to deliver short term success and the financial reward that that brings, alongside a younger cohort of developing players whose growth is of benefit to the club both in terms of on field performance and transfer fee.
I personally think we’re not far off the right blend. We have a nucleus of seasoned pros who have already successfully walked the path that we seek to travel, and a strong cohort of younger players coming through.
It’s football, so no doubt shit things will happen during the season, but there’s every chance that good things might happen as well.
