Girondins de Bordeaux. The crazy deals that put pressure on the club’s finances

Un operating deficit of 54 million euros, net loss (after including transfers) of almost 41 million euros: on June 30, the Girondins ended the 2023/2024 season with bloodless finances. Combined with huge debts (118 million according to a provisional estimate from the commercial court at the beginning of August), this situation led the club to be placed in receivership in the summer, and then relegated to administration from Ligue 2 to National 2.

For years, Bordeaux has a structural deficit. Successive owners (M6, King Street and then Gérard Lopez) took on an ever-growing hole. This was particularly increased by unequal wages, which represent the main item of expenditure. Last season, as “Sud Ouest” revealed, it still amounted to 36 million euros.

Management Responsibility

This amount represented doubling the revolution without the movements of the Girondins. Who else would have to bear operating costs (suppliers, service providers), pay agent commissions, pay transfer bills, repay their debts, etc. So the deficit is depressing on June 30. This time, Gérard Lopez did not put the hole he dug himself. In fact “Sud Ouest” was able to consult the contracts of players from last season. They are enough to leave you speechless.

It is clear that there will be no question here about the fifteen contracts that provided a salary between 2,170 euros (minimum salary in L2) and a total of 10,000 euros per month. More like twenty somethings who happily cross this stage. We should also point out that the players are in no way “responsible” for these incredible salaries, diligently offered by the club. None of these treaties date back to the American era. They are the sole and total responsibility of the current management.

Yoann Barbet, Alberth Elis and Danylo Ignatenko make up the podium for fixed salaries, above 50,000 euros per month. Four players were above 40,000: Gaétan Weissbeck, Zan Vipotnik, Aliou Badji and Stian Gregersen (left in the January 2024 transfer window). Then came Rafal Straczek, Zuriko Davitashvili and Alexi Pitu, above 30,000 per month. A level that Clément Michelin, Jérémy Livolant and Vital Nsimba knew.

A large nest egg

These fixed salaries were already quite generous. In 2022/2023, according to the DNCG, the average for a Ligue 2 player was 8,172 euros gross per month. At the beginning of the next season, there were 22 Bordeaux players above, often in more than important proportions. In addition, these salaries were increased with various bonuses. Standard and motivational practice to encourage reporting and performance. But it is rarely of such length.

The “ethical bonuses” (conduct, punctuality, public comments, etc.) ranged from 1,800 to almost 10,000 euros per month. “Appearance bonuses” were linked to the number of starts and/or appearances, while “performance bonuses” depended on the number of goals or assists. All these bonuses were big nest eggs for some players.

Well dressed senior management too

Admar Lopes’ contract, signed on August 17, 2021, provided for an annual salary of 480,000 euros net of taxes and social security contributions for the 2023/2024 season. That is the same salary as the previous season, and 60,000 euros more than for the 2021/2022 financial year, for which he received a “welcome bonus” of 220,000 net euros. The sporting director could also receive 1% on capital gains during transfers “as long as the financial health of the club allows it and subject to the prior approval of Mr. Gérard Lopez”. James Stevens, “the president’s president”, received 120,000 euros net per year. He and Admar Lopes benefited from “accommodation support” of 1,750 and 1,500 euros per month respectively. When asked if these sums were paid or if the contracts were revised down after the relegation to L2, the club did not respond.

XXL attendance bonuses

Even more surprising: around ten elements were eligible for an “extraordinary medal”, on the sole condition that they were present within the Bordeaux team on a certain date. For example, Aliou Badji received 300,000 euros because he was still with the Girondins on 1^Yes July 2023. Alberth Elis received 253,000 euros in September 2023 then 131,000 in February 2024, Ignatenko 195,000 euros in July 2023.

Pedro Diaz received a bonus of 371,000 euros to compensate for a salary that was among the lowest in the team. The Spaniard’s contract guaranteed him a minimum salary of 300,000 euros net of taxes and social security contributions. Why bonuses rather than salaries, when the tax system is the same? Perhaps because it gives players more choice when discussing their income with teammates, the media or even relatives.

For the club, it is also and above all a way to cancel large expenses more easily: a company stops payments when it does not pay salaries, but it can bonuses to cancel more easily. In addition, when they left Bordeaux this summer after the wave of contract terminations, several players were still waiting to receive bonuses, and the total was sometimes higher than 100,000 euros.

And the coaches?

David Guion, who was in office at the beginning of the last season, received 40,000 euros per month. When he was fired, an agreement was reached with the club: he was to receive 191,000 euros in November 2023, and the same amount on July 31, 2024. That is, the day after the opening of the legal recovery procedure. So this second payment was added to the club’s debt. In October 2023, the Girondins had to pay 100,000 euros to Celje for the poaching of his successor Albert Riera (an equal payment should have been made on July 30), who was paid ​​55,000 euros per month (ethics bonus included), with a compensated accommodation of… 4,500 in Euros per month. He ensured that he left Bordeaux while renouncing any compensation. His contract was also of the true incentive type: he would have received a bonus of 337,000 euros if he had secured promotion to Ligue 1.

Russian Roulette

By giving such a salary, the management of Bordeaux forced the Girondins to stay far beyond their means. The move down to Ligue 2 in 2022, however, was an opportunity to significantly reduce the club’s lifestyle to ensure its long-term sustainability and make it attractive to investors or buyers . The local context (historic club, current public, quality infrastructure, regeneration project, living environment) could make it possible to offer reasonable salaries.

A salary cap of 5,000 euros per month this season

Last spring, the Girondins finally decided to change financial gear in their recruitment. A salary ceiling was set for recruits: a total of 25,000 euros per month. The sports director at the time, Admar Lopes, had no chance to grant it. In National 2, his successor John Williams – with the help of Erwan Lannuzel, the reserve coach – had the intention of building a team (for the first team and the reserve) with a total salary set at a million euro.
According to our information, a salary cap of 5,000 euros total per month has been introduced, even if it does not prevent the payment of special bonuses, for example according to the number of tenures. The Englishman Andy Carroll would be well under this roof. Around the club, this salary level raises some skeptical eyebrows, and very important bonuses are mentioned if there is a promotion. On the management side, we emphasize that there is nothing of the kind and that many players have made financial sacrifices because they believe in the Bordeaux project.

Gérard Lopez and his team – who did not want to answer our questions – have chosen to enter. But they could not ignore it by signing those contracts, that the Girondins could only survive if there was a big contribution from the shareholder (which happened in the summer of 2023 with 40 million euros injected by the businessman) or an external partner. Otherwise, the disaster was inevitable. They played Russian roulette with five bullets in the barrel and only one empty chamber. They lost. The club too.

Those interested in the matter, like Fenway last June, he turned away from it. The cost of the stadium, the reduction in TV rights and the absence of promotion in Ligue 1 did not help. But above all, it was necessary to spend tens of millions of euros to restore the accounts and restructuring the club. The contracts stretched over several seasons, with stable or slightly increasing salaries in L2, and a clear increase in L1, with promotion bonuses reaching up to 125,000 euros. In plain language? Even if an upgrade was made, the problem may not have been fixed.

The DNCG, faulty or powerless?

The National Directorate of Regulatory Control (DNCG), contacted in the context of this article, did not respond. Too bad, because it would have been interesting to understand how and why she authorized the Girondins to start last season with such a budget. The main goal is to ensure that a club makes it to the end of the season. Bordeaux succeeded in this, but without paying all the suppliers, or all the bonuses that were due to the players, after making 19 million euros in profits capital on movements instead of the 31 that was announced and greatly exceeds the payroll that was originally planned. Last January, the DNCG could have downgraded the club as a precautionary measure, but the damage had already been done. In her defense, in the summer of 2022, she had already sent the club to the National, a decision that was upheld on appeal by the CNOSF. But the fall of Bordeaux in 2024 is a reminder that the “financial police” is far from being sufficiently armed.