Leicester City lose £92.5m in 2021-22 accounts

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Brendan RodgersImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Brendan Rodgers became Leicester manager in February 2019 and led the club to FA Cup success in May 2021

Leicester City have announced pre-tax losses of £92.5m for the year up to 31 May 2022 - an increase of £61.3m compared to the previous 12 months.

The Foxes say the decision not to sell a first-team player in the summer of 2021 while continuing to recruit was the reason behind the larger deficit.

They spent about £70m on players including striker Patson Daka and midfielder Boubakary Soumare.

Wesley Fofana's £70m move to Chelsea in August 2022 is not part of the figures.

Revenue dropped slightly from £226m to £214m, which the club say is mainly because of accounting differences compared to the 2020-21 campaign that was impacted by Covid-19.

Leicester finished eighth in the Premier League in 2021-22 and reached the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League.

Chief executive Susan Whelan said the club will be able to invest in the squad this summer, but raising funds through player trading will "continue to feature prominently in our strategy" in order to remain compliant with financial regulations.

The likes of Ben Chilwell, Harry Maguire, Riyad Mahrez, N'Golo Kante and now Fofana have been sold for considerable profit in recent years.

"This approach has served us well in the past, bolstering our capability to keep investing in the growth of the club and forming a cornerstone of the most successful era in Leicester City's history," said Whelan.

Only defender Wout Faes and goalkeeper Alex Smithies were brought in during the summer, with manager Brendan Rodgers saying the club had to balance the books.

In January they signed defender Harry Souttar from Stoke City, left-back Victor Kristiansen from Copenhagen and brought in Brazilian winger Tete from Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk on loan.

Despite those new signings the club has continued to struggled for form and slipped to within two points of the Premier League relegation zone after Saturday's 1-0 defeat at Southampton, when some fans called for manager Rodgers to be sacked

Last month chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha cleared the club's outstanding £194m debt to parent company King Power International by converting it into equity.

It is the second time a debt-to-equity transfer has been completed under the Srivaddhanaprabha family's ownership since their takeover of the club in 2010.

Image source, BBC Sport
Image source, BBC Sport

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