Southampton CEO Parsons says he will not risk club’s finance
Saints have already spent around £50million in the summer transfer window but need further improvements ahead of the Premier League season.
Parsons, who has been at the helm for over a year following the exit of Martin Semmens, revealed the club have cut staff from around 440 to 280.
Profit and sustainability rules mean most clubs can not lose more than £105million over three years – and the threshold is even lower for Saints following relegation.
Parsons was quizzed on Southampton’s financial situation and responded: “I think so far we’re around the six highest net spenders in the league.
Saints CEO Phil Parsons and director of football operations Mark Bitcon
“It’s really easy to forget because we’ve brought two loans back. It’s really tough to be competitive straight away, you need to get your squad to a certain standard.
“We’re looking across all targets. That will include loans and that will include permanents. When you buy a player, I’ve learned it’s not as simple as Championship Manager.
“There are so many factors – will a club accept? Is there a price tag on the player in the first place? Will they sell him? Does the agent want it to happen?
“Do the parents want it to happen? You’ve got so many points that it’s quite complicated. We said a year ago at a fans forum that we need to be responsible.”
Parsons continued: “It’s not just about this year. The club needs to continue. I don’t want to talk to you about the complications if we didn’t come up.
“It was probably one of the biggest goals in the history of the club at Wembley because being in the Championship is so difficult with all of the financial rules and the gap.
“The gap is so big, but equally when you go up, your contracts all jump. You don’t just get £100 million in the bank. It doesn’t happen like that.
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“You get small chunks throughout the year. So it’s about cash flow as well. When money goes in and out of the club, it’s really complex about where that happens.
“Sport Republic have put in over £200 million into this club over the last couple of years. That’s the first bit of money for over 10 years, by the way.
“That’s why we’ve had to become more efficient. The owners are very, very bought in but then we have financial fair play as well.
“We do have to watch the rules and sometimes we need some outs before we can do some ins at the same time. We’re balancing all of that.
“Russell and I talk every day about transfers with the owners, everybody’s very well aligned. We’ve got a huge scouting network and we’ll do the best we can.
“We’re not going to do that at the same time as putting the club in a really, really bad financial situation and risk Southampton not being here in five years.”
