Leeds United: £124.5million in upcoming transfer payments ‘really worries’ Adam Pope amid relegation threat
Leeds United have as much as £124.5million in transfer payments on the cards if the fee to Jean-Kevin Augustin is included, which “really worries” Adam Pope.
After back-to-back home thrashings at the hands of Crystal Palace and then Liverpool the Whites are back in real danger of relegation back to the Championship and losing the riches of the Premier League.
The long-awaited 49ers takeover won’t go through in its current form and the money still owed on incoming transfers wipes out everything that is still due to come in from last summers’ sales of Kalvin Phillips and Raphinha, so with FIFA ordering the club pay £24.5million to Augustin on top [The Athletic, 10 April] Pope is highly concerned.
Pope said on BBC podcast Don’t Go To Bed Just Yet on Tuesday (18 April, 21m 35s): “If they go down though, when you looked at those accounts there’s £100million still to come in for Raphinha and for Phillips that hasn’t been included in the latest accounts.
“But they owe £100million still for transfers. Alright that’s going to amortised over time but it’s still what they owe, so the money that’s going to come in, it might be a little bit simplistic, will go straight out.
“Then you’ve got another reasonable signing amount of money if they have to settle the Jean-Kevin Augustin for £24.5million.
“That really worries me, especially if they went down.”
Uncomfortable
Leeds United shouldn’t be in the same sort of existential peril as clubs such as Everton if they fail to beat the drop but it would be anything but a happy experience.
All the recent plans have been formulated around the Whites being an established Premier League outfit for the long-term by now.
But that is far from assured after the form fell off a cliff at half time of the Palace defeat on 4 April, and unless Javi Gracia can lift his players from two straight thrashings there will be more misery ahead.
There are still, for now, parachute payments to soften the blow of falling out of the top flight, but the Premier League and the EFL are currently in negotiations over a new system that will reduce the figure significantly [Sky News, 21 March].
Even if 49ers Enterprises are still prepared to buy the club, it will be for a vastly reduced price from what Andrea Radrizzani is currently in line to bank and could push that handover months or years down the line.
It goes without saying that a host of first team stars would leave, and the much-needed renovation of Elland Road would be put on the back burner.
So the Augustin development, a totally needless saga entirely of the board’s own making, comes with terrible timing.
And with Marcelo Bielsa now long gone it is fair to wonder how long the next absence from the top flight would be if this relegation battle claims the Whites.
In other Leeds United news, one exit-linked ace’s off-camera reaction this week raises far more questions than answers.