Bradford City v Cambridge - Little left over from Oli McBurnie windfall as Bantams pay off debt

The Bantams are set to receive a little under £2.5m as their ‘cut’ of a transfer that will see the Blades pay Swansea City a guaranteed £17m.

Bradford, expected to reveal losses of around £2m for the 2018-19 campaign, are due the money thanks to a sell-on clause inserted in the 2015 deal that took McBurnie to the Liberty Stadium for an initial £250,000.

“The McBurnie money will not make much difference to the club going forward,” said Rhodes to The Yorkshire Post. “But what it will do is take the pressure off.

“As it stood before this went through, Stefan (Rupp, City’s owner) would have had to cover the losses we have made and expect to make this season.

“This helps to plug that gap. Of course, it (the money) may give us some leeway. We might be able to get one or two more signings in. This is something we need to sit down and discuss.”

City’s financial losses can be put down to last summer’s spending spree under previous chairman Edin Rahic.

The wage bill soared to around £4m – the fourth highest in League One – and yet Bradford struggled horribly on the pitch.

Many of those signed a year ago are still at Valley Parade, placing further pressure on the club’s finances.

Rhodes, brought back to the club last winter by Rupp, added: “I always felt it would be a two-year process to get us back on an even-keel as a club.

“This income from the McBurnie transfer will go a long way towards helping us in that process.

“It is good news for Bradford City.”

McBurnie, as a result of yesterday’s switch to Bramall Lane, is also now City’s new record sale – eclipsing Nahki Wells, who joined Huddersfield Town in a deal that eventually exceeded £2m.

Bradford’s 15 per cent relates to the profit made by Swansea on McBurnie, whose fee could rise by a further £3m – potentially bringing in another £450,000 for City.