Newcastle United could still have to sell players to their rivals, their chief executive has warned after they posted a £73m loss for the 2022-23 season.
The Magpies were taken over by the Saudi Public Investment Fund in October 2021 when 19th in the Premier League.
They finished fourth last season and qualified for the Champions League.
However, Darren Eales said “there is a long way to go” for the club to match the revenue of the biggest sides.
“To put it into perspective, we want to be a top-six sustainable club and Tottenham’s latest accounts available [showed the total revenue] was £440m. We are at £250m, so there is a big step even to the lower end of the top six,” he added.
“We have also seen that Manchester City are £710m in revenue in their latest accounts. There is a long way to go in growing those revenues.”
It was also revealed the club had loaned co-owner Amanda Staveley £600,000 in November 2022 “in respect of certain legal fees”, which was interest-free and had not been repaid as of 30 June 2023.
A further loan of £659,056 was made on 31 August 2023.
The financial figures for last season showed a £70m rise in turnover to £250m, but the club recorded a post-tax loss of £73.4m for the 12 months ending 30 June 2023, “driven mostly by the continued investment in the playing squad”.
However, the figures earned from their involvement in the Champions League were not included – and will be in their next accounts.
Forward Alexander Isak joined in a £63m move in August 2022 with winger Anthony Gordon moving from Everton in a transfer worth £45m in January 2023.
That came after goalkeeper Nick Pope, defenders Kieran Trippier, Dan Burn, Matt Targett and Sven Botman, midfielder Bruno Guimaraes and forward Chris Wood were all signed in the first seven months of 2022.
More than £400m has been spent on players since the takeover, but further investment could rest upon selling a key asset to free up funds with regards to Financial Fair Play, which limits the losses that clubs can make.
Botman, Guimaraes and Isak have been rumoured as potential targets for clubs, with Newcastle out of the Champions League and down in ninth in the Premier League table.
“Any decision we make will always be against the backdrop of the medium to long-term benefit for the club,” added Eales.
“It’s difficult to say specifically on certain players, but I can say that, if we’re going to get to where we want to get to, at times it is necessary to trade your players.”
Eales also defended boss Eddie Howe, who led the club away from the relegation zone in his first season in charge before qualifying for the Champions League by finishing ahead of Liverpool, Tottenham and Chelsea last season.
“There’s no doubt we have had real progression on the pitch and Eddie is a huge, integral part of that,” said Eales. “We hope he is going to be with us for many years to come.”