Budgeting: An Analysis Of The Financial Sustainability Of English Premier League Football Clubs
27 September 2026
By M J Kocx
Budgeting.
The sheer economics of operating in the English Premier League (EPL) have become absurd to the casual onlooker.
The financial outlay in both the January and June transfer windows has become questionable and debatable at times in the eyes of this author.
Let us consider the value for money, in terms of the transfer record of the EPL.
In the summer of 2025, 7 of the 20 EPL clubs recorded a net profit on player transfers.
Their figures are shown below.
Club: Bournemouth
Net Profit (Pounds): Approx. 65 million
Club: Brighton
Net Profit (Pounds): Approx. 59 million
Club: Brentford
Net Profit (Pounds): Approx. 59 million
Club: Wolves
Net Profit (Pounds): Approx. 20 million
Club: Chelsea
Net Profit (Pounds): Approx. 17 million
Club: Crystal Palace
Net Profit (Pounds): Approx. 17 million
Club: Aston Villa
Net Profit (Pounds): Approx. 15 million
Source: Sky Sports
5 Years
Stepping back further, we can see that over the last 5 years, only 1 club appears to have made a positive return on transfer activity.
Club: Brighton
Net Profit (Pounds): Approx. 440,000
10 Years
And in the last 10 years, no club has achieved a positive return on overall transfer investment.
Estimates of some of the Big 6 clubs suggest that debts are in the hundreds, if not thousands of millions (billions).
Club: Manchester United
Net Transfer Position in Debt (Pounds): Approx. 1.35 billion
Club: Arsenal
Net Transfer Position in Debt (Pounds): Approx. 1.10 billion
Club: Manchester City
Net Transfer Position in Debt (Pounds): Approx. 1.09 billion
Club: Chelsea
Net Transfer Position in Debt (Pounds): Approx. 1.03 billion
Source: Transfermarkt.com
So, where does this leave football clubs in terms of financial sustainability?
Left juggling high player wages and contract bonuses already on top of inflated transfer fees?
The Net Zero Debt Position
Any well-run organisation or football club should have the frameworks in place to secure a net zero debt position.
Of course, it is easier said than done.
But, let us consider the following potential solutions in terms of juggling playing and operational costs.
Utilising EPL Broadcast Revenues
The EPL generates extraordinary financial revenues for participating football clubs.
For example, in the 2024/25 EPL season, all three relegated clubs; Leicester City, Ipswich and Southampton earned over 100 million pounds in central payments alone.
Spent wisely, 100 million pounds should provide a sufficient budget for operational costs of the football club alone.
Let us say for example the following figures are the major operational expenses of an EPL football club on an annual basis.
Expense: Category 1 Training Facility and Academy
Amount (Pounds): 20 million
Expense: Stadium upkeep and maintenance
Amount (Pounds): 2 to 5 million
Before player wages and transfer budgets, it costs at least 22-25 million pounds annually to operate an EPL football club.
In operating an EPL football club, the annual broadcast revenues should first and foremost be allocated to cover annual operational expenses.
Negotiating Wages
To be financially sustainable, an EPL football club should aim to have wages for its squad averaging 116 million pounds per year.
That works out to be a 28 player squad, with the average squad member earning 4.16 million pounds per year.
Naturally, EPL football clubs can be creative and cunning in terms of player recruitment.
If a football club can halve its playing wages, this would result in 2.08 million pounds per year per squad player. Or 58 million pounds per year.
This is still a sizeable investment, given that not every one of the 28 players will play regular first team minutes in the starting XI.
To manage playing wages, EPL football clubs need to achieve a decent mix of experienced professional and young, inexperienced footballers.
Use of Player Sales At Strategic Points
EPL football clubs which invest in academies and talent pipelines are ideally placed to balance their books.
Lower starting weekly player wages, and the potential for future transfer net profits, is an attractive pitch for investing in young, exciting, talented footballers.
When players are young or relatively obscure, they are far from the finished product. Their market value may not be a true reflection of their intrinsic value.
Now, this author is not suggesting that an EPL football club should stack its first team with kids and expect them to compete against the best football clubs in Europe on a weekly basis.
But, the club should be aiming to have a decent mix in its starting XI of young and older players.
Budgeting.
A tricky issue for EPL football clubs, but all so important to their long-term financial health.
From
Yours truly,
