New Leeds United £61m Profitability and Sustainability figure revealed as Whites make '55 per cent' loss

The Whites' rush to raise funds in order to comply with Profitability and Sustainability rules (PSR) this summer has led them to move on teenage fan favourite and homegrown midfielder Archie Gray.

The 18-year-old's £40 million transfer to Tottenham Hotspur, which sees Joe Rodon heading the other way in a separate £10 million deal, greatly improves the baseline figures on Leeds' balance sheet for the accounting period ending June 30, 2024 and should ensure the club are not hit with sanctions akin to those handed down to Nottingham Forest and Everton last season for financial rule breaches.

While supporters will require an explanation, Leeds are far from the only club finding themselves hamstrung by historic expenditure and the reality is something fans of several teams have had to reconcile with in recent weeks.

PSR in English football permits clubs to report losses over a three-year period up to a maximum total, depending on which division they play in. Premier League clubs, competing in the top flight throughout the three-season accounting block, are allocated a £105 million loss threshold, while teams in the Championship for the duration of the same period are allowed to make up to a £39 million loss.

Given Leeds will be spending their second consecutive season in the Championship during 2024/25, their three-year accounting period ending June 30, 2025 will take into account the majority of financial transactions beginning from July 1, 2022 when the club were still a Premier League entity.

For the 2022/23 season, Leeds were allocated a £35 million loss threshold, followed by £13 million limits in 2023/24 and the upcoming 2024/25 campaign, totalling £61 million over the respective three-year period, down from £83 million for the period July 2021 to June 2024.

The Whites are anticipated to report a loss in their 2023/24 accounts, which were expected to be submitted over the weekend but could yet reflect Gray's £40 million sale. Meanwhile, the club have already reported a £34 million loss for the accounting period 2022/23 which eats up 55 per cent of their loss-making facility for the new accounting period under which their financial health will be judged, between July 2022 to June 2025.

In some ways, the reduced loss limit explains why Leeds have been forced into making difficult decisions regarding player sales the past few days. On the other hand, a lucrative commercial deal with Red Bull and the sales of Tyler Adams and Luis Sinisterra - both worth up to £20 million each - has the capacity to lessen the financial impact of remaining in the Championship.

Either way, belt tightening will never be far from the conversation at Leeds during 2024/25, but only when last season's accounts are made public early next year will the extent to which Leeds needed to sell and impact on the club's finances become apparent.