Leeds United: Multi-million pay-off to Bielsa and staff revealed in accountsMulti-million Leeds United pay-off to Marcelo Bielsa and staff revealed in Elland Road accounts.
Leeds United’s accounts for the 2021/22 period have been filed with one of the findings revealing a £3.5 million pay-off package for Marcelo Bielsa and his staff.
It was also confirmed that turnover at Elland Road last season was £189 million.
The financial details disclosed underline the importance of Premier League football with Javi Gracia striving to lead his side to safety and the guarantee of top flight action for at least another season, ahead of the anticipated full takeover of 49ers Enterprises in the coming months.
Structural competitive advantage
As reported by The Athletic, the club reported an overall operating loss of £34 million with a significant increase in the squad wage bill contributing to figure, rising from £108 to £121 million.
Key first-team arrivals last season included Junior Firpo, Jack Harrison and Daniel James.
In February of last year, Bielsa ended his time with the Whites in what was his fourth season in West Yorkshire. Leeds and El Loco was a mutually beneficial relationship with the club transformed under his tutelage.
It was a difficult situation to part ways given all that had materialised under Bielsa’s leadership but with Leeds hovering just above the drop zone, he was replaced by the American Jesse Marsch who came in and presided over a last-gasp Premier League survival on the last day of the season.
The warm, amicable split with Bielsa and his staff is now known to have cost the club approximately £3.5 million.
Leeds United executives are said to be content with factors such as increased merchandise revenue as well as progress made in sponsorship and advertising whilst the club feel their position as a one club city in the UK’s third biggest metropolis can provide a structural competitive advantage moving forward, on a Premier League platform.
