James Rodriguez one of four Everton exits who may have already improved wage bill numbers
High earners that have already left the club could have improved the concerning Everton wage bill according to the Liverpool Echo.
The club released their 2020-2021 accounts this week, which contained some uncomfortable numbers below the headline of a £120.9million loss, including the wage bill which football finance expert Kieran Maguire highlighted on Twitter was at a league-high 98% of income.
However, Colombian star James Rodriguez is the headliner among a whole host of players to have left since the period that the recently released numbers covered.
Adam Jones writes in the Liverpool Echo: “The Colombia international was on a hefty wage packet during his brief time at Goodison Park, but that will no longer be a factor for the club moving forward after his move to Al-Rayyan shortly following the start of the season.
“Exits for Moise Kean (initially on loan), Lucas Digne and Bernard will have also made a significant impact to the club’s wage bill since the release of the last accounts.
“All three will likely have been among the highest earners at Everton when they were allowed to leave Merseyside.”
Doom and gloom
Jones’ Echo story highlights the difficulty in plotting where the changes at the club since the period in question have left the current numbers.
The coaching and back-room changes are unlikely to have had a positive effect, with a new manager and director of football unlikely to have been a cheap switch.
But the turnover of the playing squad between last season and this leave probably the greatest hope of good news financially.
The likes of Theo Walcott and Yannick Bolasie have also gone and will probably not have been on low pay considering their name value on arrival.
The apparent downgrading of the level at which the club can operate in the transfer market won’t have excited fans much.
But considering the number of expensive flops, and the performances of Demarai Gray and Andros Townsend, may not be a bad thing.
Swapping Digne for Nathan Patterson and Vitalii Mykolenko in January wasn’t a major boost on the pitch but could also have helped on the balance sheet.
It’s a case of needs must for a lot of elements at the club right now, and bringing down the wages will necessarily mean fewer star names.
In other Everton news, a big pay rise for one director was just one of the take-aways from Maguire’s analysis of the club accounts.
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