The Premier League's biggest clubs have recently published their financial results for the 2024-25 season.
While football is decided on the pitch, these off-the-pitch results tend to give clues as to which direction clubs are going in - and what transfer activity could look like in the years to come.
Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool all published their details by the end of February - while West Ham also joined them, revealing some surprising results.
Sky Sports' reporters go through all the club accounts to reveal what we can learn from each club...
Man Utd need the Champions League ASAP
Manchester United's latest accounts show how important it is for the club to get back into Europe. If you want to make Manchester United great again, they need to be playing in the Champions League again as soon as possible.
The new expanded format of the competition means English clubs have each made between £73m and £86m from just playing in the league phase this season.
United are improving on and off the pitch, although it is too early to start celebrating about the latest figures they posted in New York.
Not being in Europe would be a financial disaster for most clubs, but United's finances are just about holding up - despite overall debt rising to £1.29bn with no new stadium for that vast borrowing. The long-term Glazer debt is still £488m ($650m), the short-term borrowing is up to £295.7m and more than £500m is owed on transfers.
As expected, being out of Europe means United revenues for the six months to the end of last December fell from £341.8m to £330.7m.
Matchday income was down £2.8m to £75.7m because United played five fewer games at Old Trafford than in the final six months of the previous year. Increased ticket prices mean they are making more per game and United still make more money on matchdays than any other club in England.
The departure of several high-profile players means their wage bill for the final three months of last year fell by nine per cent to £75.1m. There is no mention of how much compensation Ruben Amorim was paid as he was sacked on January 5 - just after the period covered in these accounts.
Kaveh Solhekol
Liverpool spend more than Man City
After two consecutive years of pre-tax losses Liverpool are back in profit to the tune of £15.2m. That's down to record revenue of over £700m.
In summary, during Liverpool's 20th league title winning season:
Media revenue had the biggest uplift largely due to Liverpool reaching the last-16 of the Champions League compared to the quarter-finals of the Europa League the previous year, as well as winning their Premier league title success. Liverpool were, in fact, the most-watched Premier League club last season.
This was also the first full season in which the new Anfield Road stand was fully open, hence the increase in matchday revenue. However, alongside record revenue growth, administrative costs increased significantly.
Squad performance bonuses for their title success plus contract renewals for Mo Salah and Virgil Van Dijk, an increase in staffing numbers and general matchday admin costs meant expenditure on staff rose by £42m to £428m.
These costs have more than doubled since the accounting period 2016/17 and are now higher than Manchester City's (£408m).
These figures do not take into consideration Liverpool's £450m summer spending on the likes of Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong - so expect those costs to go up in the next set of accounts.
Vinny O'Connor
Chelsea aren't earning as much as their rivals
* According to UEFA
Chelsea's record loss was for a season when they won the UEFA Conference League and qualified for the Champions League.
Two months after the end of the 2024/25 season they also earned up to £90m by winning the expanded Club World Cup in the United States.
In the old days. any losses would have been subsidised by former owner Roman Abramovich - but he was forced to sell the club and the regulatory landscape has totally changed from the early years of the Russian billionaire's ownership.
Chelsea's big problem - apart from the fact that they have not won a recognised major trophy under their new owners - is that their revenues lag behind those of their major rivals.
Chelsea's owners are facing challenges on multiple fronts. In the short term, their priority has to be qualifying for the Champions League again.
Champions League participation is more important now than ever - even though Chelsea are convinced their finances are improving.
Kaveh Solhekol
Arsenal in a healthy spot - but can they sell players better?
Arsenal are certainly on the way up in terms of finances. They nearly broke even for the 2024/25 season, recording a loss of just £1.4m. Given their losses sat over £100m four years earlier, it's a positive sign.
The big boost for the Gunners was a club record revenue of £691m. As fashion and merchandise experts, Arsenal's commercial revenue continued to fire, with yearly revenue rising by 19 per cent to £264.4m.
Deloitte data says Arsenal's commercial revenue has increased by a world-football high of 104 per cent since 2021 - nearly twice as much as the average commercial growth of the rest of the so-called 'Big Six'.
Matchday revenue also increased to £154m, partly due to the men's team's Champions League run to the semi-finals which also impacted broadcast revenue - that rose to £272m last season.
Given Arsenal are in the Carabao Cup final, the latter stages of the FA Cup and have a nice route to the European semi-finals once again, that figure could well grow in the forthcoming campaign. The women's team playing more games at the Emirates Stadium than ever before will boost matchday revenue numbers too.
However, there is a downside to additional games - as Arsenal reported a "sharp" increase in costs on 'other operating charges'. That figure went up to £200.8m, an increase of £80m. "Increased staging costs, specific direct costs of delivering increased revenues, certain residual property matters and inflationary pressures," were responsible for that hike, say the club.
Last season also showed the power of Arsenal selling well. The £106m in player sales - including 'pure profit' home grown stars Emile Smith Rowe and Eddie Nketiah - brought a net spend of just £18m, and an overall net transfer debt of £125m.
That last figure decreased massively from £229m in the previous season - so it can explain why Arsenal were able to spend so much in the summer just gone.
Arsenal's wage bill rose by 19 per cent - a shorter climb than last year - but a loss of £15.2m in written-off player values (funds where they were unable to recoup the value of certain players) shows the need to continue selling well. This season has seen them fail sell anyone for more than £5m in the transfer market.
But with Arsenal set to re-negotiate an Emirates Stadium catering deal this year, as well as the Emirates shirt sponsorship deal in 2028, there are plenty of other avenues for increased income in the coming years. They are in a healthy spot.
Sam Blitz
West Ham need to sell players - will that include Bowen?
West Ham recorded over £100m in losses for the financial year 2024/25.
Regardless of what happens after the season finishes, they say they'll have to sell players to generate income. But life will be much easier if Nuno Espirito Santo can keep them in the Premier League.
West Ham say they are "forecasting a liquidity shortfall in summer 2026". In Layman's terms, they are spending more than they are making.
The reasons for this they say include league position, no European football and lower profit on sales of players. That's before what they describe as the "severe but plausible scenario" of dropping into the Championship.
Thoughts immediately turn to the future of captain Jarrod Bowen. You would imagine the England international will move on if the Hammers are relegated. But those financial figures mean that even if the Hammers survive, will the 29-year-old have to be sold no matter what?
Bowen will still have four years left on his West Ham contract this summer so could still command a significant fee. Other players such as Crysencio Summerville could also be used to raise funds, so what will West Ham do?
Chris Reidy
What would relegation mean for Spurs?
Tottenham Hotspur being relegated would be one of the the biggest stories in Premier League history. Rival clubs are foaming at the mouth at the idea.
It's simply unthinkable for a club of Tottenham's size to slip into the Championship, but they're heading that way after countless defeats.
Many say Spurs have the best stadium in the world. It generates on average £4.5m per match. Some Spurs players reportedly face up to 50 per cent wage cuts if they're relegated - but just how many would stay at the club?
They'll have to rip up managerial targets. Does a new director of football come in? Season ticket pricing details have already been released. That'll also have to be ripped up.
There are a very small minority who think relegation would be a good thing, as the club need a reset - and some at board level might deserve it.
But the truth is, that minority really don't fully understand the consequences relegation would be for Spurs and instant promotion would be far from a guarantee with so much upheaval in a short summer