Using figures taken directly from the club's accounts (i.e. the ONLY accurate figures available), I examine Rafa Benitez's transfer spending during the ownership reign of Tom Hicks and George Gillett.
Earlier in the week, I wrote an article looking at the veracity of Tom Hicks' claim that he and Gillett had spent £300m on players. Unfortunately, many people misinterpreted the figures - instead of deducting Roy Hodgson's transfer spending, people included it as part of Rafa Benitez's transfer spend under Hicks and Gillett.
Obviously, this is wrong! As such, I've compiled a table below containing Benitez's figures only.
IMPORTANT NOTES
1. The transfer spending figures for 2007-2009 are recorded in the club's accounts. Unfortunately, accounts for 2009-10 have not been released yet. Having said that, the purchases/sale price figures for Aquilani, Kyrgiakos, Dossena, Voronin + Alonso are included in the 'Post Balance Sheet Events' section of the 2009 Accounts (See snippets below). For the other transfers that took place in 2009-10, I've used the next best source: the official Liverpool FC website.
2. Hicks and Gillett bought the club on the 6th February 2007. For accounting purposes, LFC's financial year runs from 31 July - 31 July. Thus, any players bought/sold between 31 July 2006 and 6 February 2007 should not be included in this analysis. For spending calculations, it is important to note that H+G were in charge at Liverpool for just over 3.5 years, *not* 4 years.
3. Several players were sold between 31 July 2006 and 6 February 2007, and two were purchased.
4. Sales between 31 July 2006 + 6 February 2007
* Barragan, Traore, Mellor, Kromkamp, Kirkland (Combined 4.5m)
* Darren Potter £525k
* Stephen Warnock £1.5m
Total: £6.5m
5. Purchases between 31 July 2006 + 6 February 2007
* Dirk Kuyt - 10m
* Alvaro Arbeloa - 2.5m
Total: £12.5m
Purchases and sales are accounted for in the table below.
Here are the figures I compiled from the 2009 Accounts' 'Post Balance Sheet Events' section, and LFC.tv for transfers conducted from 31 July 2009 until Benitez left the club in June 2010:
6. Transfers In
* Albert Aquilani + Sotiris Kyrgiakos - £20.4m
* Jonjo Shelvey - £1.7m
* Daniel Ayala - £160k
7. Transfers Out
* Xabi Alonso, Andrea Dossena + Andrei Voronin - £29.7m
These transfers are accounted for in the table below.
RAFA BENITEZ TRANSFER SPENDING UNDER HICKS + GILLETT
Proof from the club's accounts:
2006-7
2007-8
2008-9
I'm not making any judgement on the figures; I'm merely providing the information.
Any analysis of LFC transfer spending that ignores figures taken from the club's own accounts is inherently inaccurate. How can figures based on estimation, inference and/or 'educated' guesswork supercede the club's own published accounts? The answer is, they can't.
Jaimie Kanwar
Earlier in the week, I wrote an article looking at the veracity of Tom Hicks' claim that he and Gillett had spent £300m on players. Unfortunately, many people misinterpreted the figures - instead of deducting Roy Hodgson's transfer spending, people included it as part of Rafa Benitez's transfer spend under Hicks and Gillett.
Obviously, this is wrong! As such, I've compiled a table below containing Benitez's figures only.
IMPORTANT NOTES
1. The transfer spending figures for 2007-2009 are recorded in the club's accounts. Unfortunately, accounts for 2009-10 have not been released yet. Having said that, the purchases/sale price figures for Aquilani, Kyrgiakos, Dossena, Voronin + Alonso are included in the 'Post Balance Sheet Events' section of the 2009 Accounts (See snippets below). For the other transfers that took place in 2009-10, I've used the next best source: the official Liverpool FC website.
2. Hicks and Gillett bought the club on the 6th February 2007. For accounting purposes, LFC's financial year runs from 31 July - 31 July. Thus, any players bought/sold between 31 July 2006 and 6 February 2007 should not be included in this analysis. For spending calculations, it is important to note that H+G were in charge at Liverpool for just over 3.5 years, *not* 4 years.
3. Several players were sold between 31 July 2006 and 6 February 2007, and two were purchased.
4. Sales between 31 July 2006 + 6 February 2007
* Barragan, Traore, Mellor, Kromkamp, Kirkland (Combined 4.5m)
* Darren Potter £525k
* Stephen Warnock £1.5m
Total: £6.5m
5. Purchases between 31 July 2006 + 6 February 2007
* Dirk Kuyt - 10m
* Alvaro Arbeloa - 2.5m
Total: £12.5m
Purchases and sales are accounted for in the table below.
Here are the figures I compiled from the 2009 Accounts' 'Post Balance Sheet Events' section, and LFC.tv for transfers conducted from 31 July 2009 until Benitez left the club in June 2010:
6. Transfers In
* Albert Aquilani + Sotiris Kyrgiakos - £20.4m
* Jonjo Shelvey - £1.7m
* Daniel Ayala - £160k
7. Transfers Out
* Xabi Alonso, Andrea Dossena + Andrei Voronin - £29.7m
These transfers are accounted for in the table below.
RAFA BENITEZ TRANSFER SPENDING UNDER HICKS + GILLETT
Proof from the club's accounts:
2006-7
2007-8
2008-9
I'm not making any judgement on the figures; I'm merely providing the information.
Any analysis of LFC transfer spending that ignores figures taken from the club's own accounts is inherently inaccurate. How can figures based on estimation, inference and/or 'educated' guesswork supercede the club's own published accounts? The answer is, they can't.
Jaimie Kanwar
