PSV reduces financial gap with Ajax from “104 to 28 percent”

The 2025-2026 season is over and that means drawing conclusions because it turned out to be a special year. PSV came out on top for the third time in a row in the fight for the league title, and the prospect of more is there. With Peter Bosz at the helm, PSV are aiming for their 4th and perhaps 5th consecutive league title.

Financially, things are going well with the club; Voetbal International also looked at this last week. Even more so, PSV has now significantly reduced the earlier financial gap with Ajax. Over the past few days, the weekly magazine drew a number of conclusions about the club's sporting and financial situation.

According to Tom Knipping, the foundation of PSV's success is not only on the pitch, but especially also in the boardroom. That conclusion is not too difficult to draw, but Knipping explains it. "On the pitches of the Eredivisie, Bosz-Bal reigns. In the boardrooms of the Eredivisie, Brands-Bal", Knipping writes in his analysis for Voetbal International about the financial situation at PSV.

The journalist sees that smarter policy creates distance from the competition. "With better policy, PSV defeated the rivals for the third time in a row, who have their affairs less well in order."

Knipping looks at the budgets of the three top clubs and sees big differences emerging in them. "One club lures players with additional signing fees, the other club looks to salaries. The three top clubs also process signing fees differently in their figures. Ajax includes them in salaries, while PSV and Feyenoord put signing fees under depreciation on transfer sums."

Therefore, according to him, a fair comparison is only possible through the total addition of salaries and transfer write-downs. On this front, PSV stands out as remarkably strong in the figures, notes Knipping. "Conclusion: in 2025, PSV was nineteen million cheaper than Feyenoord, and the salary and transfer costs were 33 million lower than at Ajax."

For PSV, there is stable growth underway. "The good news for PSV is that the investment opportunities there are steadily growing, while Ajax has started operating more cautiously. Five years ago, under Marc Overmars, Ajax still spent more than double on salaries and transfer fees: 155 million versus 76 million. In 2025, this at Ajax fell to 150 million, while PSV recorded 117 million." This means PSV’s deficit has become considerably smaller. "In other words: the gap shrank from 104 to 28 percent."

In 2025 this fell at Ajax to 150 million, while PSV stood at 117 million." That means PSV’s deficit has been significantly reduced. "In other words: the deficit shrank from 104 to 28 percent."

Knipping adds an important nuance there as well. After all, Ajax has a much larger organization than PSV. "The Amsterdammers have more than a hundred additional jobs than PSV, which means more of the salary costs are going to office staff", it says regarding the personnel profiles of both clubs. In short, the concerns for Ajax keep growing and growing, whereas PSV seems to be able to grow steadily.