Sunderland's accounts: The interesting insight into Premier League plan under Kyril Louis-Dreyfus you might have missed

Sunderland released their latest set of accounts on Friday, covering the season which finally saw the club win promotion from League One.
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The headline figure was an operating loss of £5.1 million, but beyond that there was a huge amount of insight into how the club is operating under Kyril Louis-Dreyfus and how it plans to eventually find its way back to the Premier League.

Here, we run you through some of the interesting themes in the accounts…

The Premier League ambition

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After a disappointing end to the January window, many fans wondered when Sunderland saw themselves realistically pushing for a return to the Premier League.

With the team riding high in the table, this seemed like an opportunity not to be missed.

The notes accompanying this latest set of accounts offer the most revealing insight yet from the ownership group on the timeline they hope to oversee.

The notes stress that the primary objective of this season was to consolidate, and warned that it was 'imperative' that the club did not return to League One as they look to build their way back on and off the pitch.

Sunderland's promotion to the Championship was covered in the club's recent set of accountsSunderland's promotion to the Championship was covered in the club's recent set of accounts
Sunderland's promotion to the Championship was covered in the club's recent set of accounts
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Interestingly, it is added that five years is seen as the time frame within which the club hope to return the top tier.

Nothing is guaranteed in what is a brutally competitive division season in, season out - but this is a revealing insight into how the club plan to grow the squad.

Put simply, it means that the board is hopefully of overseeing a promotion campaign at some stage in the next two-to-three seasons.

The notes read: "The next season is a period of consolidation as the club adapts to the second tier, but in doing so a proactive improvement program has been planned and is integral to the future success of the club.

Sunderland Chairman Kyril Louis-DreyfusSunderland Chairman Kyril Louis-Dreyfus
Sunderland Chairman Kyril Louis-Dreyfus
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"It remains the club’s ambition to return to the Premier League within five years since acquiring control.

"Following the recent promotion, the club are on track to achieve this."

The investment in the Sunderland squad

The vast majority of transfer fees these days are announced as undisclosed and so getting a measure on what clubs are spending can be difficult.

These accounts, which are encouragingly transparent, give us some insight into Sunderland's operations.

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The accounts list an investment of £5,291,000 related to players during the period in question.

The players which are believed to have commanded a fee in that period include: Dennis Cirkin, Niall Huggins, Trai Hume, Jay Matete, Dan Ballard, Leon Dajaku, Jack Clarke and Aji Alese.

Players such as Danny Batth and Patrick Roberts also joined, but the investment in terms of fees there is thought to have been nominal.

The way Sunderland structure their deals means that continued success on the pitch will see those fees rise over time, with Clarke the prime example of a player recruited for an initially modest fee that will grow significantly if he and the team thrive.

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The vast majority of clubs with which Sunderland have bought players from will also have a significant sell-on clause, meaning they recoup any of the future profit that the Black Cats make.

The additions of Jewison Bennette and Adboullah Ba fell just outside the accounting window, so the actual investment in the squad was greater over the summer window.

Sunderland's net spend last summer was far from insignificant, but their wage bill is expected to be a long way short of many around them in the table currently.

That in a nutshell gives a great insight into how the Black Cats are operating right now.

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This spend in young players was a key factor for the funding from the ownership group, which has increased the debt to the club's shareholders.

However, the club does remain free of any external debt.

The incredible Sunderland fan support

The notes accompany the accounts reveal an extraordinary fact, that the 32,000 season cards sold for this season is 'the most sold by the club in any season since the move to the Stadium of Light in 1997.'

The stunning backing of supporters was the key reason for Sunderland's surge in turnover following the Covid-impacted campaign, and will remain absolutely vital in the years ahead as the club bids to get back to the Premier League.

It is also, it is fair to say, a vindication of the desire to move to a more energetic, aesthetically-pleasing playing style.

Growing control of the wage bill at Sunderland

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The rise in turnover meant that the wage bill, while hugely significant in League One terms, actually fell below the club's turnover and significantly at that.

Player salaries for the season were 34.6% of the club's turnover according to the accounts, with the overall wage bill 62.4% of turnover.

This is a much healthier ratio than many of their promotion rivals last year and significantly better than the majority of Championship clubs.

Maintaining this while improving the squad further (and retaining the young players improving rapidly) will undoubtedly be one of the club's very biggest challenges over the coming years but these figures suggest they are starting from a good place.

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This is all the more encouraging as the club did invest significantly in staff off the pitch during this period.

The profit on player sales

Sunderland are still very much in the early phase of a long-term project, investing in young talent who they believe will grow significantly when given first-team exposure.

As such, there have yet to be any major player sales since Kyril Louis-Dreyfus took control, and that is reflected in a modest profit on player sales of £1,243,000 reported in the latest set of accounts.

The period in question saw Sunderland sell Denver Hume and Benji Kimpioka, while a significant portion of that sum will reflect the sale of talented youngster Francis Okoronkwo to Everton.

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It may also include some clauses realised from sales in previous years.

These accounts do reflect the importance of driving some income from player sales in the years ahead.

The incredible loyalty and support from Sunderland fans is as the accounts themselves state the primary reason for a broadly encouraging set of results, but as the club look to raise their wage bill further to compete with the best in the division, they will need to grow their revenue.

Other revenue streams aside from owner funding and fan support will be needed.

A huge spike in commercial performance - and room to grow

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Sunderland's decision to bring concerts back to the Stadium of Light is vindicated by a huge spike in commercial income, with conference, banqueting and retail bringing in £8,022,000 for the club.

Clearly there is still a significant amount of work to do on this front, particularly in retail and sponsorship, and the notes accompanying the accounts identify this as an area where the club can still improve in the period ahead.