Seems logical to me that when the manager is given a budget for the coming year then it includes transfer fees paid as well as players' wages committed to. In other words if we pay a fee for a player it's that much less we can spend on wages.
Total guess, I reckon the players' wage budget will be in the region of £4m to £4.5m.
If we do sell Brayford and/or Done and/or Adams then hopefully the club will make that income from fees available to supplement the wage budget, which is what has been done in the past. Just because it didn't go out £ for £ on transfer fees doesn't mean it was not ploughed back into the club though it might have gone on other expenditure.
As Dane says above, we have already paid a nominal fee for Hussey. Let's say it was £200k, well it seems logical that Wilder can't spend that again. If Hussey's wages are £4k per week, then that's another £200k to add to the fee that Wilder can't spend again until transfers out save on the wage bill.
If Brayford went for £750k and his wages saved are £10k per week then Wilder might be able to sign a number of players in replacement.
The wage budget is the target maximum given to the manager for the coming year.
If last year's wage bill was £6m going forward we have already have chopped that by releasing 10 players. Looking at the players who've left let's guess their wages added up to £45k per week i.e. £2m per annum. That gets the £6m down to £4m. The £6m included the wages of Edgar, Hammond, Sammon and Baptiste ( for a short time though) on loan, say £25k p.w. ( excluding Baptiste). for say 9 months = £900k. That takes the £6m down to £3.1m on players who are left drawing wages. Hammond's new contract adds to that, say £500k, so £3.6m.
There are 6 other transfer listed players where savings can be made and funds become available if they leave. Coutts may well be on £8k p.week ( £400k p.annum). Woolford £7k? Freeman £5k? K.Wallace £4k? Diego £3k? J. Wallace £5k, no chance of leaving for nowt. Wilder will push for progress in each case, that's a big slice of budget that he could do with.
If Wilder has been given a budget of £4.5m then it's up to him to manage the net additions to the wage bill. I think he'll also be looking to sell a couple of those retained players to free up slack in his budget and also to have more variety in his strikers. Strikers' wages: Sharp £9k? Adams £5k?,Done £8k? Lewin £3k? McNulty £5k?, Scougall £4k?
Brayford's wages for a full back still look out of kilter with all around him in the squad, even ignoring the fee we paid out and what we might get in if he leaves. Trouble is he'll not be in that much demand, that's the irony, what's he worth now?
Hope all that makes sense, it reads OK to me but it's complicated and might look nonsense to any reader. Hope it stimulates further discussion though. All wages guessed, don't get bogged down on minutia!
