A fascinating insight into Liverpool’s 2018-19 financial results after CL win

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Planet Football
6th March 2020

Liverpool have made enormous progress in the Premier League and Champions League under Jurgen Klopp – and it isn’t doing them any harm financially.

After finishing second in the league and beating Tottenham in the Champions League final in 2018-19, the Reds have been left in a great position financially.

And, as always, football finance expert Swiss Ramble has done a sensational job in not only making sense of it all but even making it interesting to look at.

Overall revenue

Liverpool’s revenue rose by £78million to a record £533million in 2018-19. That growth came from broadcasting income (£261million), commercial income (£188million) and matchday income (£84million).

That was the third-highest revenue in England last season, behind Manchester City (£535million) and Manchester United (£627million).

However, their investment in the squad saw the wage bill increase by £46million to £310million, also giving them the third-highest wage bill in England.

Overall they made a £42million in profit before taxes, which is more than any other Premier League club have reported to date for 2018-19.

Despite the decrease, #LFC £42m profit before tax is still the highest reported to date in the Premier League in 2018/19, a fair way ahead of #MUFC £27m and #WWFC £20m. In stark contrast, #EFC and #CFC have both posted losses above £100m. pic.twitter.com/2zX3YyuVSx

— Swiss Ramble (@SwissRamble) March 6, 2020

Champions League

Liverpool’s run in the Champions League last season gave them their sixth European title and also had a big impact on their financial results.

A 50% increase in the new UEFA rights deal helped them make £98million from European TV money, a figure only bettered by Barcelona’s £104million.

It is also more than double what Chelsea received for winning the Europa League last season.

After reaching two successive Champions League finals, Jurgen Klopp’s side have now made £167million from European TV revenue over the last two years.

However, #LFC £98m was still the highest European TV money earned by an English club, ahead of #THFC £90m, #MUFC £82m and #MCFC £82m. The difference with the Europa League is marked, as #CFC and #AFC only earned £41m and £34m respectively, despite both clubs reaching the final. pic.twitter.com/Hl87tKKBgw

— Swiss Ramble (@SwissRamble) March 6, 2020

Profit on player sales

Liverpool have made some shrewd signings in the transfer market in recent years, but they have also become a club that sells well and gets good money for their fringe players.

There was no huge Phillipe Coutinho-type windfall in this year, but the Reds still generated a £45million profit from player sales in 2018-19. Chelsea and Leicester are the only clubs to make more in 2018-19.

Most of that profit came from Dominic Solanke’s £19million move to Bournemouth and Danny Ward’s £12.5million transfer to Leicester City.

Over the last five years, Liverpool now made a £306million profit on player sales, which is significantly more than Arsenal (£170million), Manchester City (£147million) and Manchester United (£69million).

Although #LFC profit on player sales fell £79m from £124m to £45m, this was still pretty impressive. In fact, it is the third highest reported to date in the 2018/19 Premier League, only surpassed by #CFC £60m & #LCFC £58m. Mainly from Dominic Solanke, Danny Ward & Ragnar Klavan. pic.twitter.com/KM5LcJOX0e

— Swiss Ramble (@SwissRamble) March 6, 2020

If you want to look over the finer details, it’s worth reading @SwissRamble’s brilliant Twitter thread in full.