Squad cost
Wages plus amortisation, against revenue and against peers.
Definition
Wages plus transfer amortisation, against revenue, against peers. It is the single most predictive number in club finance and most clubs below the top division carry it only as a wage bill, which hides the half of the cost that is already committed.
Definition
Squad cost is wages plus the amortisation of transfer fees — a €3m signing on a four-year contract costs €750,000 a year before a single wage is paid. A club tracking only wages is reading half its own cost base.
Squad cost against revenue
Method
Seventy per cent is the line UEFA drew, and it is a reasonable one at any level: above it a bad season stops being a sporting problem and becomes a solvency problem.
Spend by position
Method
The finding is almost never the total. It is the shape: this club spends a division-leading share on central midfield and a bottom-three share on centre-backs, and has conceded more goals than anybody above it for three seasons.
The tests
| Measure | This club | Threshold | Reading | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Squad cost ÷ revenue | 78% | Below 70% | Outside | Above the line for four seasons. This is the finding. |
| Amortisation share of cost | 31% | Under 35% | Within | Committed spend is within range. The problem is wages, not fees. |
| Cost rank vs table position | 4th cost, 11th place | Within 3 places | Outside | Paying for a play-off squad and finishing mid-table. The gap is the recruitment structure, not the budget. |
| Wage spread, top earner ÷ median | 6.1× | Under 5× | Outside | One contract distorting the whole structure, signed in a window that nobody now defends. |
Three engagements. Each one answers a question a board is already arguing about.