Liverpool To Beat Out Giants With Record Profit

It would seem that excellence on the pitch combined with excellence off it equates to a healthy wallet indeed. 2018 was a blockbuster year for Liverpool FC, highlighted by a stunning run to the Champions League final, an action-packed summer transfer window and a club-record domestic points haul to open the 2018-19 campaign.

Jürgen Klopp and his squad’s exploits between the lines were matched by a memorable fiscal year ending May 31, 2018 for Sporting Director, Michael Edwards and owners, Fenway Sports Group and their dealings in the boardroom.

While the Reds snatched headlines with the record purchase of Southampton’s Virgil Van Dijk as well as big money moves for the likes of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Mohamed Salah, they more than made up for it by securing the third-highest transfer fee ever in selling wantaway Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona for an astounding £142m, actually ending with a transfer net profit.

That one, now-legendary transaction, together with smart, boosted commercial sponsorship deals, targeted transfer spending and a hefty £71.8m haul for the Champions League run, has Liverpool projected to be the first club to register over £100m of profit in a fiscal year.

Turnover, which reached £364m in 2016-17, could rise to more than £450m once the final figures are released likely some time in early March. However, early hints from UEFA in a recent report suggest that the Liverpool are set to be the first to break the £100m profit barrier:

“UEFA Champions League prize money of €82m drove Leicester City FC to the highest net profit in history in FY2017 (€98m), beating the previous record of €78m set by Tottenham Hotspur FC in FY2014 (with Liverpool FC set to break that record again in FY2018).”

Once derided, FSG have shown that clear, consistent strategy and well-reasoned investments off the pitch—along with a healthy dose of Klopp magic—can lead to sustained success on it which in turn leads to massive profits. What a time to be a Liverpool fan.