As reported by Kicker, TSG Hoffenheim have announced losses of €42m for the 2021/22 season. The numbers were published in the club’s magazine Spielfeld on Friday.
The club’s CEO Frank Briel believes the missing transfer surpluses as one of the main reasons for the massive deficit. In the summer, Hoffenheim did not make any major purchases or sales. They hoped to offload Florian Grillitsch in the summer but failed to do so due to no adequate offers coming in. As a result, the Austrian international left on a free transfer to Ajax.
Another factor was of course the pandemic. Briel spoke about the difficulty of meeting personal budgets due to the time spent playing behind closed doors.
“This mechanism of being able to adjust the squad appropriately and to be able to meet the personnel budget has been undermined to a certain extent by the pandemic,” the CEO explained.
Towards the end of last season, Hoffenheim were on the cusp of finishing inside one of the European places. In January 2022, they were inside the top four after matchday 18. For this reason, the squad was not reduced as they changed the financial rewards of finishing in the top 7. However, TSG ultimately missed out late on in the season and finished just outside the top seven in 9th position.
GGFN | Jamie Allen
