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In figures that were made public on Friday morning, the club posted a drop in media revenue and a rise of administrative costs that combined to the tune of £76m.

The media revenue drop of £38m to £204m is largely explained by a season outside of the Champions League and the club were still able to post record commercial revenues of £308million, which bodes well for the future, where Liverpool will feel the benefit of agreements made with additional partners.

It's understood that the cost of utilities at Anfield have more than doubled compared to just three years ago, while administrative expenses have increased by a remarkable 88% from £320m to £600m since 2018.

The ECHO has also been made aware that staff costs have increased by 86% from £208m to £386m in the last seven years.

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That the £9m loss that was posted in the previous year's figures has now shot up to to £57m underscores the importance of Champions League football at Anfield.

An explanation for the stark jump in what is defined as 'administrative costs' was the cost of replacing Jurgen Klopp and his backroom staff.

The legendary former manager and his coaching team received a fee thought to be close to the £10m mark when they departed and the club took on additional cost by having to replace them with the likes of Arne Slot and his team of Sipke Hulshoff, Aaron Briggs and John Heitinga.

It's estimated that the Reds' run to the last-16 of the Europa League last term earned them £25.5m, which was a significant drop on the figure believed to be around the £55m mark the previous year, when Real Madrid sent them packing from the knockout stages in the Champions League.

It's quite the contrast and a snapshot of why qualification to Europe's premium and most lucrative competition is always objective No.1 when a campaign kicks off at Anfield, which is something former boss Klopp routinely stressed during his time at the club.

The revamped, 36-team 'Swiss model' for the Champions League will mean next year's numbers are much more eye-catching.

That saw them directly through to the last-16 of the tournament, which allowed them to bank an additional £9m on top of £1.6m for being one of the eighth highest finishes.

With Paris Saint-Germain next up for the Reds next week before a potential quarter-final with either Club Brugge or Aston Villa, Liverpool know their path to the semi-final stages and the new-look Champions League has already proven to be hugely beneficial to the bottom line at Anfield.

It has contributed to a a £22m increase in match-day revenue and with the venue regularly playing host to crowds of over 61,000 for the years ahead, that number is expected to only move upwards.

The Anfield Road project, which added a further 7000 to the capacity, endured some problems along the way, such as contractors Buckingham Group going into administration, and eventually came in at a cost of somewhere £80-90m for the club.

However, with such an increase in match-day revenue already apparent, it's clear the investment is proving to be a shrewd one for the long term.

Adding to the growing catalogue of commercial partners remains a vital source of revenue.

Jenny Beacham, Liverpool FC's chief finance officer, said: “Operating a financially sustainable club continues to be our priority and, with the continued increase in costs, it’s essential to grow income streams year on year to maintain financial stability.

"The success of our commercial operations, together with the opening of the new Anfield Road Stand, has increased our revenues during this reporting period which demonstrates our desire to continue to compete at the highest levels of football in the men’s and women’s game.

“The global appeal of this football club continues to be phenomenal and is the underlying strength and opportunity we have for continued growth.

There were also contract extensions for the likes of Kostas Tsimikas, Ben Doak and Conor Bradley.

With Mac Allister, Szoboszlai and Gravenberch all enjoying excellent campaigns for a Slot team who find themselves as overwhelming favourites for the title at the end of February, the investment in the playing squad over 18 months ago has proven to be astute.

Szoboszlai, at £60m - which was his release clause at RB Leipzig - is the fourth most expensive player of all time at Anfield, behind Darwin Nunez, Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker, although Mac Allister's own terms to remove him from his Brighton contract stood at a figure believed to be at £35m.

In a world where clubs like Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal have players who cost in excess of £100m - in Jack Grealish, Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo and Declan Rice - the addition of both Reds stars for £5m short of that eye-watering sum is widely viewed as smart business in football circles.

It was Liverpool biggest-spending summer since 2018, although the doomed pursuit of Caicedo, then a Brighton player, was proof that more funds are available for the right players, given the Reds had what would have been a British-record offer of £111m accepted by the Seagulls before the Ecuador international opted to join Chelsea.

The £12m capture of Federico Chiesa from Juventus is the only senior transfer the Reds have concluded since Gravenberch arrived in late August in 2023, which would suggests money is available going forward for Slot and sporting director Richard Hughes to reshape the squad.

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The contract impasses of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and, to a lesser extent, Ibrahima Konate, however, remain unresolved and will have a major say in what the recruitment team do in the summer transfer window, as conceded by Slot himself earlier this month.


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