Sounds like spin but perhaps in the business side of the sport clubs must shuffle high salary players around at times, except for the state-backed clubs of course. The wage structure had been busted around 2000 and the likes of Ruud and Veron arrived on high salaries. The club was forced to spend 30m on Rio in 2002 to fill the void left by Stam. Getting a large fee for player that had recently returned from a bad injury was certainly good business, per say, but selling your best defender was crazy. Maybe it was difficult for SAF and the club to admit they received an offer they could not refuse, at the time when the season just started.
It is curious exactly what "balancing the books" was necessary considered the constant post-tax profit the club was turning in the multi-millions per year. Maybe it was increased dividends to be paid out to investors thus a need to balance the books. It certainly was not to reduce player wages as Blanc arrived on the same wage, possibly higher than Stam, and a hefty signing bonus from what I recall being reported (or rumored). Rio later arrived on a high wages as well.
Appears Stam's transfer fee did not affect the books until 2002 year-end reporting and for only a fraction of the 16.5m fee agreed, seems about 4.5m initially paid.
https://www.worldsoccer.com/world-s...-take-legal-action-to-recover-stam-cash-52768
http://catarina.udlap.mx/u_dl_a/tales/documentos/lcp/garcia_v_j/apendiceE.pdf
Year ------------------------------------- 2002 ---- 2001 ----- 2000 ----- 1999 ----- 1998
Taxation ----------------------------- (7,308) -- (7,399) -- (4,838) -- (7,023) -- (8,211)
Profit for the year ----------------25,039 -- 14,379 -- 11,950 -- 15,388 --- 19,628
Dividends --------------------------- (8,053) -- (5,195) -- (4,936) -- (4,676) -- (4,416)
Retained profit for the year - 16,986 -- 9,184 ---- 7,014 ---- 10,712 --- 15,212
Almost as good as Barcelona coming under with 50 million for Ferran Torres just one transfer window after they were in financial crisis. No shame whatsoever