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Leeds United released their latest financial figures in APril, which revealed an operating profit of just under £1million for the 12 months until the end of June 2017.

That came after Leeds posted a loss of £9million a year earlier and draw a line under the Massimo Cellino period at Elland Road.

Andrea Radrizzani arrived in January 2017, halfway through the reporting period for this latest set of accounts and completed his full takeover in the summer.

The issue of spending and Financial Fair Play (FFP) has been a big issue in these early months of Radrizzani's reign, with the Italian's questioning of Wolves' recruitment model hogging the headlines last month.

But what are the scopes in which Leeds must operate in regards to meet their FFP regulations?

Here's a breakdown of the rules and what they mean for Leeds' current financial situation...

What are the FFP rules?

(Image: Harry Trump/Getty Images)

In order to prevent clubs spending beyond their means and what Michel Platini termed 'financial doping' in football, UEFA introduced a set of rules in 2014 which clubs must meet in order to avoid sanctions such as transfer bans, fines, points deductions or the withholding of prize money.

Each competition has different rules regarding spending and currently teams in the Championship are monitored on a rolling three-year period and are not allowed to make losses of more that £13million per season or £39million over three years.

Leeds suffered a transfer embargo in January 2015 for breaching these rules, mainly owing to the lofty wage bill under previous owners GFH.

Where do Leeds currently stand in relation to FFP?

(Image: Mike Egerton/PA Wire)

The accounts which Leeds have just revealed show a small profit of just less than £1million for the 2016-17 season, which is good news in terms of their FFP status.

A £7million loss in 2015 was followed by a loss of almost £9million a year later, meaning they are well short of the threshold over the current three-year period.

Next year will need to need to avoid a loss of more than £31million in order to be compliant over the rolling three-year period. It is therefore highly unlikely that Leeds will face sanctions next year either.

What this means for Leeds going forward

(Image: Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)

While a number of Championship sides are sailing very close to the wind in regarding FFP, Leeds are comfortably within the parameters, meaning that they could increase their spending, should they wish to.

This means that the investment from the San Francisco 49ers, which is believed to be in the vicinity of £10million can be used this summer.

Do FFP rules help or hinder Leeds United?

The most contentious issue with the way the Championship handles FFP is in regard to the relegated Premier League clubs, who are receiving hefty parachute payments.

In order to allow clubs to make the transition from the Premier League to the second tier, relegated sides are allowed a loss of £83million over three seasons. And remember, they will have earned around £100milllion for finishing in the bottom three of the Premier League and pocketed £40million in parachute payments.

By this logic, relegated West Brom can lose £122million over the next two seasons, after starting their three-year period on a £40million profit.

Therefore, Leeds are not able to go on the sort of spending spree that the relegated clubs in theory can.

Former Leeds boss Paul Heckingbottom talked about this uneven playing field earlier this season.

"You've got overhaul clubs which have a lot more financial clout than the position they've been in, coming down from the Premier League with parachute payments you've got to do a hell of a lot if things better than them" he said before he was sacked at the start of June.

How can clubs boost their FFP standing?

Clubs can boost their FFP standing by increasing turnover - and this is done by selling players, improved gate receipts or earning more in merchandise.

For Leeds, the latest accounts saw an increase of £2million to £10million in gate receipts as average attendance rose to 27,698. That will rise in the next accounts, with this season's average at around 32,000 on the back of strong season tickets sales, while their commercial revenue was up by 12 per cent.

These accounts also did not include the sales of Chris Wood and Charlie Taylor, so revenue is set to increase further next season.