The startling reality surrounding the financial state of Stoke City has been revealed, with the Price of Football Podcast detailing why the club can't afford to sell some players.
The discussion took place between Kevin Maguire and Kevin Day on a recent episode (6th February) of the podcast which focuses on the financial intricacies of the English game, with Stoke subsequently falling under the spotlight this time around.
When coming onto the subject of the Potters, Day was quick to point to the fact that the club's sponsors, Bet365, are reportedly worth "20 times more than the Premier League", thus making the club's financial struggles even more baffling to the comedian, with Day exclaiming:
"How does that possibly work?"
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This prompted Maguire to tune in with this response, which is sure to raise a few eyebrows amongst the Potters faithful:
"It's not from a cash reason. It's the old spector of financial fair play. What's happened is that when Stoke were in the Premier League, if you take a look at their three most expensive signings, (Kevin) Wimmer, (Giannelli) Imbula and (Badou) Ndiaye, and that has been researched.
"Each of those cost Stoke a lot of money, but if you sell them at a loss, then that loss goes into your FFP (Financial Fair Play) calculation. So as a consequence, what they've done is that they've loaned them out elsewhere in Europe, but Stoke are getting a small loan fee.
"They're still paying a significant proportion of their wages, but they can't actually afford to get rid of them until their contracts (are) up."
Wimmer, Imbula and Ndiaye are all currently out on loan until the end of the current campaign at Royal Excel Mouscron, Lecce and Trabzonspor respectively.
Imbula's contract is set to expire in the summer of 2021, whilst Messrs Wimmer and Ndiaye will have to potentially wait until the summer of 2022 to secure a move away from the club.
The verdict
This will no doubt be seen as a big blow to Stoke City and their supporters as it means that they will be forced to hold onto the trio of unwanted players if no buyer comes forward for the outcasts this summer.
The prospect of keeping these players on their books will surely have a detrimental effect on how much money Michael O'Neill will have available to him during the next transfer window as the club desperately seeks to balance the books.
Only time will tell as to whether they can sell the players before their respective contracts are up or if they will have to loan them out once again.
Meanwhile, the Potters will be seeking to pick up another much needed victory this weekend as they play host to fellow strugglers Charlton Athletic at the Bet365 Stadium on Saturday.