Richard Gould: Bristol City outgoing chief executive optimistic over club's financial future
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Bristol City chief executive Richard Gould is stepping down in January to take up a new role with the England and Wales Cricket Board
Bristol City outgoing chief executive Richard Gould said the club hopes to be at "more sensible" levels financially by the end of the season.
The Championship club reported a £28.5m pre-tax loss for the 2021-22 season which was a reduction of almost £10m on the previous 12-month period.
Player wages also fell by almost £5m last season.
"Financially the reset is about 70% to 80% there I'd say," Gould told BBC Radio Bristol.
"When we get towards the end of this season, I think that we will be at more sensible levels in terms of cost.
"In terms of buying players in, that still will depend on receiving fees - that's always going to be the case for any club outside the Premier League.
"But that doesn't mean to say that we're not being proactive in terms of recruitment, we've got a number of targets for the summer that we're looking at.
"Some of that might get brought forward depending on what happens in the next couple of weeks."
Gould is stepping down from his role this month after being named as the new chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board.
Bristol City are currently 17th in the league table and Saturday's win against Birmingham City was their first victory at home since October and only their second win in 11 games.
"Nigel has been really stoic in terms of what he's been dealing with. But we still have a top-10 salary bill and therefore expectation on us is to be higher than where we are," Gould added.
"We all understand that and we're working to try and deliver on that."
'Not looking to sell Alex Scott'
Guernsey-born Scott progressed through Bristol City's academy and has become a fixture of their first team in the last two seasons
Gould said that the club had received offers for "four or five" players so far this transfer window but that none had met their requirements.
Among those subject to rumours this January are midfielder Alex Scott and forward Antoine Semenyo.
However, speaking to BBC Radio Guernsey, Bristol City owner Steve Lansdown said the club were not looking to sell Guernsey-born Scott.
"He's attracting attention as you'd expect but he's signed for Bristol City for another two and a half years too," Lansdown said.
"We're keen to extend that further and he's got a contract offer on the table, but we know there'll be people interested in Alex.
"We're not looking to sell him so he's a Bristol City player and that's the end of the story at the moment."
Bristol City's ownership have been trying to reduce their wage bill to fall in line with the English Football League's rules around profit and sustainability, which state club's must limit losses to £39m over a three-year period.
Gould added that he thought the Robins would be "fine" this year to meet those requirements.
"We've done our numbers and we've submitted those numbers. At the moment we are confident we will be within the parameters required for this year."