Angus Kinnear says Leeds United have saved £40 million on their wage bill this summer through letting players out on loan.
Kinnear was speaking in an exclusive interview with the Square Ball where he was questioned on why so many players were allowed to leave on loan in the transfer window.
Leeds lost eight members of last season’s first team squad on a season-long-loan during the summer, six of which were only signed during the 2022/23 campaign.
Robin Koch, Diego Llorente, Brenden Aaronson, Marc Roca, Max Wober, Rasmus Kristensen, Jack Harrison and Luis Sinisterra all left on a temporary basis.
Leeds spent somewhere in the region of £117.5 million to bring those players to the club and so losing them on loan was seen as a poor piece of business by the club in the eyes of supporters.
Kinnear says Leeds have saved £40m in wages through loan clauses
Leeds players were the subject of 40-60% wage cuts after relegation, which Kinnear says is the reason loan clauses were inserted into their contracts.
Having initially claimed around £30 million was saved in an interview with LUFC Trust last month, Kinnear says that figure is actually more.
He said: “We could have taken offers on some of the players who left on loan but we didn’t because we didn’t want to not crystallise the [Championship’s profit and sustainability] loss of them being sold below their book value. Instead, we’ve taken the salary saving.
“They all want a way out because they don’t want to take the salary cut. We had a choice when we structured someone’s contract — about whether we wanted to have a salary cut or not. The (relegation) salary reductions were somewhere between 40 and 60 per cent, so very aggressive. They’re some of the most aggressive in the Premier League.
“That was done because we wanted to run the club prudently. We knew we couldn’t carry the weight of a Premier League wage bill in the Championship. We didn’t have the funding for it (under Radrizzani). We were still new to the league so the prospect of going down was fairly realistic. The owners couldn’t fund a Premier League wage bill in the league below. There was a conversation to be had and the players want the protection of a loan.
“They don’t know what the ownership situation is going to be (after relegation), who you’re going to hire as a manager, whether you’re going to invest in the squad. If we’d had the 49ers as sole owners, would we have had to be as aggressive in the wage cuts? I don’t think we would. They’d have had the funding to cushion the blow into the Championship.
“But out of the players that we’ve lost — and I think Daniel would agree with this — the majority aren’t regretted losses for the project we want. We’ve saved £40million ($50m) in wages and brought in players who really want to be here.”
Hearing that, it does certainly make some sort of sense as to why they loaned players out, but the one concern is Leeds could be in the same situation next summer if they are not promoted.
Clearly the majority of the players Leeds bought had seen their value drop after the season they had in the Premier League, and so selling some of them would’ve represented a loss on their financial accounts.
Either way, it would appear Leeds have got rid of plenty of players Daniel Farke didn’t want, and brought in plenty who do genuinely want to be here.
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