Big-name transfers help Brighton to $150M profit
Premier League club Brighton posted an after-tax profit of £122.8 million ($154.4 million) for the 2022-23 season on Tuesday.
That figure represented a jump from £24.1M ($30.3M) in profit the previous year after sales of star players like Alexis Mac Allister, Yves Bissouma and Marc Cucurella and compensation for former manager Graham Potter, who was hired by Chelsea in September 2022.
Brighton said their accounts did not include further big sales like Moises Caicedo and Robert Sanchez because their transfers to Chelsea were completed after the reporting period.
Caicedo’s move was worth up to $146M and Sanchez reportedly returned a transfer fee of $32M.
Brighton’s figures were also boosted after securing their highest Premier League finish — sixth — and advanced to the semifinals of the FA Cup.
“We now have a very solid platform to continue to make significant progress on the pitch, by investing in our squad,” Brighton deputy chairman and chief executive Paul Barber said.
Brighton said its turnover was a club high of £204.5M ($257M).
Success has come at a price, though, with Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi’s name making the rounds for a number of high-profile vacancies about to come up in the coaching ranks this summer.
Bayern Munich’s Thomas Tuchel, Barcelona’s Xavi Hernandez and Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp are set to leave their jobs at the end of the season and De Zerbi has been linked with all three.
The former coach of Ukrainian team Shakhtar Donetsk and Serie A’s Sassuolo said last week that he would speak to Brighton’s owners before making a decision.
“It’s [future] not a problem, it’s a part of my work. At the moment I want to be focused and to keep my eyes on the target we have. I have the contract at the moment. The focus is on the pitch,” he said.
“I’m very relaxed. The problems are the injured players and the preparations for the next game. These are the problems not the contract or my future.”
De Zerbi’s contract with Brighton expires in 2026.
Information from Reuters and The Associated Press was used in this story.