{"id":206,"date":"2026-01-23T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/behindthe90.com\/?p=206"},"modified":"2026-01-28T16:58:51","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T16:58:51","slug":"why-are-staff-receiving-millions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/behindthe90.com\/?p=206","title":{"rendered":"Why are Staff Receiving Millions?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Over the past few years the industry no longer views non-playing staff as annoying but necessary overheads, instead they are now viewed as key assets. Sporting Directors, Heads of Recruitment and Data Analysts are now part of a &#8220;staff transfer market&#8221; featuring compensation fees that rival the transfer fees of football players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Shift from Overhead to Asset<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Historically, managers and staff were hired and fired with very high fluidity. Today, the clubs put much more emphasis on their staff recruitment processes. For instance, a Sporting Director who identifies undervalued talent generates hundreds of millions in value, meaning that this process could be more valuable to the club than the output of the player, as the club will now have a proven and effective recruitment model. Unlike players who can become injury prone or depreciate in value, non-playing staff are able to build infrastructure and a club vision that provides the club with a scalable foundation to build on long-term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/behindthe90.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image-27-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-210\" srcset=\"https:\/\/behindthe90.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image-27-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/behindthe90.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image-27-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/behindthe90.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image-27-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/behindthe90.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image-27.png 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Key Staff Transfers from 2022\u20132026<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><td><strong>Staff Member<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Origin<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Destination<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Year<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Reported Fee<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Role<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td><strong>Graham Potter<\/strong><\/td><td>Brighton<\/td><td>Chelsea<\/td><td>2022<\/td><td>\u00a321.5m<\/td><td>Head Coach<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Arne Slot<\/strong><\/td><td>Feyenoord<\/td><td>Liverpool<\/td><td>2024<\/td><td>\u00a39.4m<\/td><td>Head Coach<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Dan Ashworth<\/strong><\/td><td>Newcastle<\/td><td>Man Utd<\/td><td>2024<\/td><td>~\u00a33m<\/td><td>Sporting Director<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Enzo Maresca<\/strong><\/td><td>Leicester<\/td><td>Chelsea<\/td><td>2024<\/td><td>\u00a310m<\/td><td>Head Coach<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Ruben Amorim<\/strong><\/td><td>Sporting CP<\/td><td>Man Utd<\/td><td>2024<\/td><td>\u00a39.25m<\/td><td>Head Coach<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Vincent Kompany<\/strong><\/td><td>Burnley<\/td><td>Bayern<\/td><td>2024<\/td><td>\u00a310.2m<\/td><td>Head Coach<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Dan Ashworth Saga<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The 2024 transfer of Dan Ashworth from Newcastle United to Manchester United is the definitive example for the increased value of non-playing staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/behindthe90.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image-26-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-209\" srcset=\"https:\/\/behindthe90.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image-26-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/behindthe90.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image-26-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/behindthe90.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image-26-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/behindthe90.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image-26-1536x864.png 1536w, https:\/\/behindthe90.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image-26.png 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>The Valuation Clash:<\/strong> Initially valued at <strong>\u00a310 million<\/strong>, arguing Ashworth possessed &#8220;Trade Secrets&#8221; and strategic intellectual property (IP). However, Manchester United valued the buyout at <strong>\u00a32m\u2013\u00a33m<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Garden Leave:<\/strong> Newcastle placed Ashworth on leave in February 2024, for 5 months. For a director, a career hiatus of 5 months could be considered a career suicide due to the fast moving market of sporting directors in football, which could put him at a major disadvantage because Manchester United could have moved onto other targets during that time.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Settlement:<\/strong> Manchester United agreed a \u00a33million fee with Newcastle lower than the initial \u00a310million valuation, however this worked out for Manchester United in the end as Ashworth had left the club after just five months by mutual termination.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Legal Mechanisms<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Unlike players, who are governed by FIFA\u2019s RSTP (Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players), staff fall under domestic employment law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Non-compete clauses:<\/strong> The government announced in May 2023 that they will cap non-compete clauses to 3 months as businesses typically set these clauses at 6 months. However, this is yet to come into power and football clubs can argue that &#8220;Trade Secrets&#8221; (scouting databases like Brighton\u2019s scouting model) justify longer periods of garden leave.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Amortization and SCR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The shift from the Premier League\u2019s old PSR to the UEFA-aligned <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/behindthe90.com\/?p=67\" title=\"The Death of PSR: What is Squad Cost Ratio\">Squad Cost Ratio (SCR)<\/a><\/strong> has also affected the financial management of backroom staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Using the same amortisation method that is used for player contracts and transfer fees, a \u00a310 million fee for a director on a 5-year contract is amortised at <strong>\u00a32 million per year<\/strong>. This smooths the impact on financial regulations but carries some risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"538\" src=\"https:\/\/behindthe90.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image-25-1024x538.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-208\" srcset=\"https:\/\/behindthe90.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image-25-1024x538.png 1024w, https:\/\/behindthe90.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image-25-300x158.png 300w, https:\/\/behindthe90.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image-25-768x403.png 768w, https:\/\/behindthe90.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image-25.png 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Graham Potter:<\/strong> Chelsea paid \u00a321.5m for Graham Potter and his staff. When they <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/sport\/football\/64205562#:~:text=Chelsea%20paid%20Brighton%20in%20excess%20of%20%C2%A321m%20in%20compensation\" title=\"\">fired him after 7 months<\/a>, the remaining book value had to be written off immediately, alongside paying his the termination fee, which would have cost them the additional millions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Verdict<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The industry expertise and individual philosophies, defined as intellectual property, of backroom staff may define a club\u2019s success over the next years. The most expensive signing of the summer may no longer be a striker or midfield maestro, instead it may be a Sporting Director sitting in the box. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Over the past few years the industry no longer views non-playing staff as annoying but necessary overheads, instead they are now viewed as key assets. Sporting Directors, Heads of Recruitment and Data Analysts are now part of a &#8220;staff transfer market&#8221; featuring compensation fees that rival the transfer fees of football players. The Shift from [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":207,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"googlesitekit_rrm_CAow4oDFDA:productID":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,20],"tags":[19,63,60,64,65,62,27,18,61],"class_list":["post-206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-legal","tag-behind-the-90","tag-business","tag-compensation","tag-dan-ashworth","tag-graham-potter","tag-non-playing-staff","tag-premier-league","tag-release-clause","tag-staff"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/behindthe90.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image-24.png","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/behindthe90.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/behindthe90.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/behindthe90.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/behindthe90.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/behindthe90.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=206"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/behindthe90.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":224,"href":"https:\/\/behindthe90.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206\/revisions\/224"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/behindthe90.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/behindthe90.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/behindthe90.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/behindthe90.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}