The wages bill at Amsterdam football club Ajax soared by 27% last season, the Telegraaf reports on Friday. In total, the combined salary of Ajax staff reached €45m, or almost 75% of its income.

Most of the €9m increase went on players’ salaries. Ajax, which is the only Dutch football club to be listed on the stock exchange, had 197 people on its books at the end of last season.
Ajax booked net profit of €7.8m over the season as a whole, largely due to the sale of players such as Wesley Sneijder and Ryan Babel. In its 2006/07 book year, the club posted a loss of €10m.
Ajax said it expects to book an operating loss this season because the club (again) failed to qualify for the Champions League tournament. Ajax has qualified for the group phase of this year’s UEFA Cup, which it also failed to do last year.