Football transfers latest & Premier League build-up

Author: BBC Sport

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Matthew Raisbeck, BBC Radio Newcastle

Newcastle United have released their financial results for 2022-23, and it is another loss, this time of £73.4m. This is a slight increase on the £70.7m loss the club posted for 2021-22.

They say this was “driven mostly by the continued investment in the playing squad”, with players such as Alexander Isak, Anthony Gordon and Sven Botman all commanding significant transfer fees last season.

However, the club is more interested in focusing on a 39% increase in revenues over the period, with the Magpies’ on-field success a key reason for this, while the owners have also put additional money into the club.

Crucially, the club generated an operating profit of £20.1m before the costs associated with writing down players’ contracts were applied – taking the loss to £73.4m. The previous year saw the Magpies make a loss of £26.4m before contracts were written down.

What these accounts do not include yet is funds from the Champions League (as that will feature in the 2023-24 results) and the club estimate being in the group stages will have been worth at least £37m.

Similarly, the shirt sponsorship deal put in place with Sela last summer, and the new kit contract for next season are not eligible to be included yet. Both will provide a further revenue boost.

Despite the losses, chief executive Darren Eales told the press Newcastle are “compliant” with Premier League profit and sustainability rules and that operating within these is “part of our business plan and part of our model”.

All that being said, it is unlikely Newcastle will make many signings this month, despite a crippling injury list that has hampered efforts to compete on four fronts so far this season.

It is hard to point a loss of more than £70m as a positive but Newcastle are keen to highlight some significant growth off the field, driven mainly by the ahead-of schedule visit to the Premier League top four last season.

If they are to achieve that again in 2023-24, they will need a real uptick in performance levels from a league campaign that looked bruised throughout December.

That challenge starts again on Saturday.

Against the champions.