Wolves reveal loss of £46m as club sets its sights on European qualification
Wolverhampton Wanderers has revealed a net loss of £46.1m for the 2021/22 season and saw turnover drop by nearly £30m.
On the pitch, Wolves finished 10th place under former boss Bruno Lage in its sixth season owned by conglomerate Fosun and fourth consecutive season in the Premier League.
Wolves’ revenue fell to £165.7m this season from £194.1m, following a reduction in match days. After the 2019/20 season was derailed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, 47 games were played last financial year, as opposed to 38 this year. With matchdays driving broadcast and sponsorship revenues, the club says this caused an inflated revenue figure for the 2020/21 season.
Poor results off the pitch have also been attributed to a lower Premier League merit payment because of its final league position of 10th as opposed to 7th the previous season, and a less successful FA Cup run with a fourth round exit versus a semi-final exit.
In addition, the club also claims there was a degree of impact on funds available to invest in the first team squad. This was made more challenging with the need to comply with both Premier League Profit & Sustainability and the UEFA settlement agreement – with compliance and exit from the latter formally issued on 11th March 2022.
Player trading in the year generated a net loss of £50.1m in comparison to a £10.7m loss in 2021. An income of £15m was generated through the sales of of Rui Patricio, Rafa Mir, Owen Otasowie and appearance and goal related fees for Diogo Jota.
However, this was outweighed by the higher amortisation charges and signings of Jose Sa, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Yerson Mosquera, Chiquinho, Bendeguz Bolla, Hayao Kawabe and Sang Bin-jeong, totalling £65.1m.
W.W. (1990), Wolves’ parent company said it’s aiming for Julen Lopetegui’s side to establish itself as “regular challengers for qualification to European club competition” with directors committed to “continuously improve the club, from both a footballing and a wider operational and strategic perspective”.
This weekend, Brazilian media g1, revealed that money meant for Wolves midfielder João Gomes was unexpectedly transferred to another Brazilian man, also named João Gomes.
João Gomes, who moved to Wolves in January from Flamengo for €18.7m, was set to make €340k from the transfer. However in error, Flamgeno sent the funds to a namesake.
The Federal Court of Rio de Janeiro said whilst it was the club’s mistake, the player’s namesake cannot keep the money.
The decision read: “It appears, prima facie, that there was a serious error on the part of Clube de Regatas do Flamengo in transferring a large amount of which the athlete João Victor Gomes da Silva (“João Gomes”), the different person, his namesake, is the beneficiary, with another enrolment in the Individual Taxpayer Registration – CPF.”
“Therefore, as a logical corollary, the obligation to return the amount deposited by mistake, in protection of objective good faith and to avoid unjust enrichment, under the terms of art. 884 of the Civil Code.”
