Liverpool could announce record turnover when the club publishes its audited accounts early next year, according to a new report.
Analysts at respected football business website Off The Pitch have analysed the finances of clubs in the Premier League and made their forecasts for the 2021/22 financial year, one that ended in May and June for clubs.
The 'Financial Forecast 2022' predicts that Liverpool will finally overtake Manchester United in terms of revenue, forecasting record turnover of £602m for the club and a predicted pre-tax profit of £76m.
READ MORE: Premier League spending 'plan' could be just what Liverpool and FSG have wanted
EXCLUSIVE: Liverpool commercial director Ben Latty on sponsorship deals, the USA and Anfield Road
The report predicts commercial revenues will rise by around £23.6m to £241.2m for the 2021/22 period, with matchday revenues seeing the expected bump from £3.6m to £89.7m as fans returned in their numbers at the start of last season after a campaign played behind closed doors in 2020/21.
Liverpool announced that their turnover had fallen by £3m to £487m when they published their 2020/21 financials earlier this year, with the fall in matchday revenues offset considerably by a rise in media rights, although there was little scope for growth as football wrestled with the damaging financial impact of the pandemic.
With transfer spend once again conservative due to being offset significantly by player sales, player amortisation is likely to remain broadly the same.
It is the success on the pitch in reaching the Champions League final, winning domestic cup competitions and a strong Premier League campaign that is expected to be a driving force behind the predicted rise in revenues, with the Champions League in particular likely to have around £100m in revenues to the Reds last season when all aspects are considered.
A number of new deals were struck in the last financial year, including with the likes of SC Johnson, while the rise in commercial revenues may be attributed to a predicted increase in the impact of the Nike kit deal, where the £30m annual fee is added to with 20 per cent on the sale of Liverpool/Nike merchandise globally.
While Liverpool are forecast to surpass Manchester United's prediction of £581m, placing the Reds £21m ahead, the report claims that they will likely fall behind the financial leaders Manchester City, with the Premier League champions expected to see revenues in the region of £610m, a figure £8m higher than the Reds with City's commercial revenues forecast to reach £296.1m. The club's pre-tax profit isn't expected to be as high as Liverpool's, though, with the report anticipating a figure of around £16m, although that would be the club's highest since the 2015/16.
The report also claims that the pre-tax profits likely to be seen by Liverpool, who lost £4.8m in the 2020/21 financial year, have likely emboldened owners Fenway Sports Group to extend the contracts of some of their key stars on big salaries, the most high profile being Mohamed Salah. The wage bill will likely see a fairly significant rise by the time the 2022/23 accounts are published in early 2023.
The 2019 Off The Pitch report, the last report produced before Covid, claimed to have been '99.9 per cent accurate' when compared with the audited figures that came out.
According to the Off The Pitch report: "The forecasting method was based on incremental changes from the previous accounting year. Thus, for the 2021/22 forecast we use the respective 2020/21 figures adjusted for whatever changes happened during the accounting year of 2021/22.
"Several 2020/21 figures are severely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic compared to 2021/22 which prompts us to take figures from pre-pandemic years into consideration as well. In case subsequent events and their financial impacts are reported in the financial statements, they overrule any given estimates made by Off The Pitch or constitute the baseline of further adjustments.
"Turnover estimates are based on the officially reported Premier League, FA and UEFA payments as well as values of e.g. new sponsorship deals reported from reliable sources. Wages are estimated based on newly signed contracts, departing players and managerial changes."
Off The Pitch also state in the report that they shared their findings with each of the 20 member clubs prior to publishing in order for discrepancies to be flagged and feedback to be given.
Total Premier League turnover is predicted to a new record high of £5.4bn in 2021/22, up by almost £250m compared to the latest pre-Covid figure in 2018/19, which was the previous all-time high. However, the clubs are set to accumulate the highest pre-tax losses ever of £600m in a non-pandemic impacted year.
The biggest loss in the Premier League is predicted to be seen at struggling Leicester City, with the report forecasting a £120m loss for the Foxes when they publish their annual accounts for 2021/22.
Mads Meisner Christensen, co-founder and CEO Off The Pitch, said: "While fans, sponsors, players, and other stakeholders have to wait almost a year before the financial reports are released, our forecast sheds light on the financial state of the 20 clubs shortly after closing of the accounting period.
"Our report gives insight into a lot of important questions: Who could fall into financial fair play problems? Who has seen the biggest wage bill increase? Why was Leicester absent in the transfer window? And much more.
"We hope that by doing this report we can contribute to a bit more transparency in football."
READ NEXT:
Liverpool 'tried to sign another midfielder on deadline day' but he moved to Premier League rival
Liverpool have their 14 goal advantage back to solve five-month problem
Jurgen Klopp sends Darwin Nunez message as Eddie Howe defends Liverpool time-wasting claims
Jude Bellingham, Arthur Melo and how Liverpool midfield could look in 2023
