Full extent of Portsmouth debt laid bare

Portsmouth’s administrators have revealed the extraordinary level of the club’s debts.

A 70-page document sent to the club’s known creditors details how Portsmouth owe £38.2m in unsecured loans to former owners and have a tax bill of £17.1m.

Portsmouth owe £17.3m in outstanding transfer fees. Rennes were receiving over £630,000 a month for John Utaka, while Glenn Johnson’s transfer fee from Chelsea was still being paid.

The club owe £10.35m to finance companies, who assisted with the signings of Johnson, Jermain Defoe and Sulley Muntari.

Portsmouth owe £9.76m to 26 agents, including just over £2m to the so-called super-agent Pini Zahavi.

Nine players, including Sol Campbell, Sulley Muntari and Niko Kranjcar who are no longer at the club, are owed a combined total of £3.04m in image rights.

Portsmouth also owe bonus payments to 28 players, including Peter Crouch and David James, totalling £1.86m.

The club are still owed money from the sale of Johnson to Liverpool, Defoe to Tottenham and Muntari to Inter Milan.

Portsmouth became the first Premier League club to be placed in administration earlier this year.