According to a report by Sky Sports, Derby County’s current wage bill for the year is over £26 million less than it was during the 2017-18 campaign under Gary Rowett.
The Rams are in the midst of a takeover by Spaniard Erik Alonso.
Alonso has an agreement in place to buy the club off Mel Morris, with EFL approval now standing in his way of becoming the new owner of the east Midlands club.
It is the second prospective takeover of the season after the failed bid of Sheikh Khaled.
Morris originally agreed to sell the club to Sheikh Khaled, but months of delays ensued while Derby were under an embargo in January after failing to pay their players.
Sky Sports, however, claim that won’t be the case this time around with Morris set to honour the £1.2 million total wage bill for this month to prevent any further issues.
Interestingly, the reported monthly figure equates to £14.4 million for the year.
That is an incredible drop from the reported 2018 accounts which illustrated a whopping £40.5 million yearly wage bill for the 2017-18 campaign – over £26 million more.
The 2017-18 wage bill represented 137% of wages to turnover. It wasn’t sustainable, and Derby have over the past 18 months been on a sharp cost-cutting regime.
A host of players have left since the summer of 2019, including the likes of Craig Bryson, David Nugent, Alex Pearce, Marcus Olsson, Bradley Johnson, Nick Blackman, Jacob Butterfield, George Thorne, Richard Keogh, Ikechi Anya, Tom Huddlestone, Chris Martin, Duane Holmes, George Evans and Scott Carson.
Andre Wisdom, Scott Malone, Martyn Waghorn, Curtis Davies and Florian Jozefzoon, meanwhile, are out of contract this summer as more senior players could depart.
While over £40 million was spent in transfer fees on the abovementioned with many offering little return, the cost-cutting exercise has ultimately taken its toll.
Derby’s current squad is now made up of academy talent, loans, and cheap, experienced players. It’s of no surprise to see the Rams now fighting to stay in the league.
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