Sheffield United's 2021-22 financial losses underline why Premier League return will be so challenging

The figures show why parachute payments for clubs relegated from the Premier League, as the Blades were in 2021, are a necessary evil in the current set-up as even coming out of Covid-19 restrictions saw a big drop off in revenue.

Football League chairman Rick Parry is a vocal opponent of parachute payments, which distorts competition in the Championship.

The Blades' figures for 2021-22 show turnover down from £115m to £67m, with broadcast revenues dropping by £50.7m. Players wages fell by £56m to £42m.

Player sales, headlined by goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale's move to Arsenal, generated £25m with only £574,000 spent in a season which ended in a penalty shoot-out defeat to Nottingham Forest in the play-off semi-finals.

Relegation in 2021 and the effects of behind-closed-doors football for the majority of their two-year stay in the top division had a damaging effect on the club's finances which remains today.

Despite having won their way back to the Premier League, manager Paul Heckingbottom is expected to have a summer transfer budget of only £20m unless or until the club can be sold during this transfer window. The club has been on the market for at least 18 months, in which time high-profile attempted purchases by Henry Mauriss and Dozy Mmobuosi have failed to materialise.

Transfer installments and money owed have eaten into Heckingbottom’s budget.

The Blades received around £45m in parachute payments from the Premier League in 2021-22, and £40m in the second year to soften the financial blow of dropping out of the world's most lucrative domestic football league.