Bristol City CEO Richard Gould says progress for the financial reset stands at 70 to 80 per cent as the club continues to work hard to trim the wage bill and balance the books.
The club's latest accounts for 2021/22 revealed losses of £28.5million which remain £10m better off than 12 months prior. The reduction in player wages contributed to that with the club spending £26.9m on salaries during this financial year compared to £31.5m in 2020/21.
With Gould also easing fears that City remain within the parameters of the Financial Fair Play limit, there continues to be an understandable caution in regard to investing in new players. The message has remained the same and that is new signings can only be made if players leave this month.
Gould confirmed that the narrative is unlikely to change in the summer but the club will be in a financially stronger position. Again, that comes down to reducing the wage bill with a number of high earners approaching the end of their contracts.
Tomas Kalas, Dan Bentley, Jay Dasilva, Han-Noah Massengo and Chris Martin are among those whose deals expire in the summer while Nahki Wells signed a new contract extension in December on reduced terms. Nigel Pearson confirmed around seven or eight players have been handed new deals but conceded some may have to accept a pay cut to commit their futures.
Speaking to BBC Radio Bristol ahead of the victory over Birmingham, Gould said: "Financially the reset is about 70 to 80 per cent there.
"Towards the end of this season, I think we will be at more sensible levels in terms of cost. In terms of buying players, that will still depend on receiving fees and that's always going to be the case for any club outside the Premier League.
"That doesn't mean to say that we're not being proactive in terms of recruitment. We have a number of targets in the summer that we're looking at, and some of that might get brought forward, Nigel's been really stoic in terms of what he's been dealing with.
"We still have a top 10 salary bill and therefore expectation on us is to be higher than where we are. We all understand that and are trying to deliver on that.
"I think we're always trying to seek the best value and the amount of money you pay a player doesn't necessarily determine the quality he's going to provide on the pitch. That's maybe where we've come unstuck in previous years.
"If by investing in the playing group you mean buying players, then we need to sell first. We've brought four in during the summer and are looking to bring in more this summer.
"We don't want too much transition. If you have seven or eight players every summer moving in then that creates its own difficulties.
"You look at the base of players we have now, it's a settled squad with lots of young players getting experience under their belts and getting better. We don't want revolution, we want to build."
Gould also spoke about the challenges of competing in a league that still hands out parachute payments to relegated clubs. Owner Steve Lansdown is among those who have been critical of the system in the past and the unfair playing advantage it creates.
When teams are relegated to the Championship, they receive three payments that are divided as an equal share of broadcast revenue paid to Premier League clubs to help mitigate the huge drop in revenue that fails to cover the wage bills accumulated. Although Gould is hopeful the system will be scrapped with the next two or three years.
"We're in a Championship that is defined by parachute payments," Gould added. "When a club gets relegated they have a £50m advantage on us and nobody can compete with that. Therefore we have to find other ways.
"It's not just about the money, it's about the management, about the quality of recruitment and players we will develop. We want to be promoted to the Premier League and we'll always set timescales to provide us with that focus.
"Things happen along the way and we are competing in the toughest league in the world. You have clubs with salaries of £60 to £70m in this division, you also have clubs with salaries of £6 to £7m. It's a fascinating league with lots of challenges and I hope the football authorities can do what they can to try and level the playing field in terms of parachute payments at some point."
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