Leeds lost £21m in Marcelo Bielsa's first season

Image: Leeds posted losses of £21.4m in Marcelo Bielsa's first season

Leeds posted losses of £21.4m in Marcelo Bielsa's first season, with the Sky Bet Championship club's accounts showing wages rocketed during the 2018/19 campaign. 

The Argentine's arrival heralded excitement and a renewed promotion push at Elland Road, but the club fell agonisingly short in the play-off semi-finals.

The coronavirus outbreak has seen this season suspended with table-topping Leeds on course for promotion, having built on the 2018/19 campaign.

Leeds' accounts for the year ending June 30, 2019 show turnover increased from £40.7m to £48.9m, with the average home attendance rising by 2,512 fans to 34,033.

Leeds' players, coaching staff and senior management volunteered to take a wage deferral 'for the foreseeable future' and winger Stuart Dallas revealed it was a straight-forward decision.

Income streams increased across the board but Leeds' operating loss was £36.1m, with a loss for the financial year and total comprehensive income of £21.4m.

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Wages were a huge contributing factor in that, with the accounts showing a steep rise from £31.4m in 2017/18 to £46.2m during 2018/19.

Leeds' most expensive signing during the period was striker Patrick Bamford from Leeds, but the club's heavy reliance on loans from top-tier clubs will have also factored into their increased wage bill.

Also See:

Leeds United players Liam Cooper, Kalvin Phillips and Luke Ayling chat to Sky Sports about isolation, their promotion hopes, working under Marcelo Bielsa and much more.

Leeds were a point clear of West Brom, who occupy the Championship's second automatic promotion spot, and seven points clear of third-placed Fulham, when matches were suspended with nine games of the season remaining.

The West Yorkshire club are looking to secure a return to the Premier League for the first time since the 2003/04 season.

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