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The overall debt of clubs in Serie A last season rose to over 1.7 billion euros with the situation at Parma symptomatic of a league in general financial difficulty. Parma are on the verge of bankruptcy with wages not paid since July last year, however an investigation by La Gazzetta dello Sport said that they are not the only Italian club struggling to make ends meet. Inter Milan and Roma, two giants of the Italian game, have some of the biggest debts, which is why they are also subject to UEFA Financial Fair Play investigations which could lead to restrictions placed on them in Europe next season. Only six sides in last season's Serie A managed to reduce overall expenditure on wages with the other 12 clubs recording an increase compared to just three seasons ago. Despite this, all clubs apart from Parma have been regularly meeting deadlines for payments of wages and taxes, even if questions are being asked where the funds are coming from. #INSERT type:image caption:The overall debt of clubs in Serie A last season rose to over 1.7 billion euros. END# Over the past five years, overall debt has risen by 27 percent with the greatest sources of money now television revenue and trading on the transfer market. Income from matchday operations and marketing, on the other hand, is stagnating, if not regressing in certain cases. Even Juventus -- owners of their own stadium, unlike the other clubs in Serie A -- are posting continued losses. The Bianconeri have been able to reduce their losses from 95.4 million euros in 2010 to just 6.7 million last year, while it is hoped the increased income from being the sole Italian club to reach the knockout stages of the Champions League will enable them to come out of the red in 2014-15. Napoli buck the trend having made profits for eight years in a row under president Aurelio De Laurentiis, thanks to the money they earned from the Champions League last season and the sale of Edinson Cavani to Paris Saint-Germain. Cuts in wages at Lazio helped them post a profit last season, thanks also to the sale of Hernanes to Inter Milan and income from the Europa League. Including that transfer, Inter reported the biggest loss of all clubs last season with over 100 million euros, which new president Erick Thohir hopes to wipe out over five years. Boosting the brand internationally and qualifying for the Champions League appear to be crucial for the Nerazzurri's future while it is no coincidence that their signings of Lukas Podolski and Xherdan Shaqiri this winter were on initial loan deals -- should they miss out on a place in the Champions League next season, they can send both back to Arsenal and Bayern Munich respectively without facing any great expenditure in the summer which they cannot then recoup over the season. Without European football next season, Inter may be forced to sell the likes of Mateo Kovacic, Mauro Icardi and Fredy Guarin rather than consider strengthening their squad. The days they were competing for -- and winning -- the Champions League seem like only a distant memory.
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