Although Harry Redknapp has denied that there will be any ‘fire sale’ of players in the January transfer window, concern about the financial situation of Portsmouth FC persists. They have the smallest ground capacity in the Premiership and are set to lose about £25m as staggered payments of player purchases become due in January and August. Top earners in the side such as Peter Crouch are pulling in over £50,000 in wages with others not far behind. The club currently brings in around £65m through ticket sales, TV money and merchandising, but £60m of that is swallowed up in staff costs.
Although Harry Redknapp has denied that there will be any ‘fire sale’ of players in the January transfer window, concern about the financial situation of Portsmouth FC persists. They have the smallest ground capacity in the Premiership and are set to lose about £25m as staggered payments of player purchases become due in January and August. Top earners in the side such as Peter Crouch are pulling in over £50,000 in wages with others not far behind. The club currently brings in around £65m through ticket sales, TV money and merchandising, but £60m of that is swallowed up in staff costs. A further £20m is due in deferred transfer fees by the end of the season and owner Alexandre Gaydamak has reportedly accepted that the club needs someone with deeper pockets than him. A club statement has denied that the club was up for sale, but said that if an offer were received it would be seriously considered. What would constitute an acceptable offer is unclear but reports suggest that Gaydamak would accept £40m with hhalf the money paid up front and the rest in a year’s time. This is a modest figure by Premiership standards, but any new owner would have to take up the debt and committed costs which would push the full package up to £100m. Ideally, any new owner would be in a position to provide £130m fund the projected new 36,000-seater stadium which would solve a lot of the club’s financial problems by adding on ticket sales of 16,000 each match.