Ghost of Clough

Realistically, we should be competing with the loser out of Barnsley and Sheff Weds for the title next season.
Bolton and Peterborough aren't anything special. I can't see them improving by 15 points.
Portsmouth, Wycombe and Charlton were too far off the pace last season and they would have to invest a lot to make up the ground.
Wigan will be in freefall. Who knows how many more points they'll be deducted, and they'll struggle to sign anyone with how things are there.
Reading have their P&S issues. Still no manager. Some of their fans are actually tipping them for relegation. I'd be surprised if they can't pull together a squad good enough for the playoffs.
Blackpool are stable now, so could pose the next biggest threat, but still have a much smaller budget than us.

This guy will be signing contract extensions at Man City when he's 50! 
 

Happiest Diaz of his life, they were.

I think these figures are excellent but only go so far to demonstrate  the value of the academy.
This is because you also have to factor in every minute any of those players have played for the first team, where we have saved having to buy someone else in to do their job. 
Hughes and Hendrick nearly got us promoted, Bogle likewise and the value of those young lads who have kept us going on the pitch these last two seasons has been tremendous.
I know we pay them a wage, but it will probably have been modest by comparison to bought players.

Using your £30m figure, that would average out at £4.3m between him taking over (2014) and him jumping ship (2021). If we kept up at that level of spending during administration and this season (we didn't) that would take the total to £38.6m.
Since 2014,  we have sold the following academy graduates for a fee: Hendrick (£10m), Hughes (£4m), Thomas (£1.2m), Bogle and Lowe (£8m), Plange (£1m), Gordon (£1m), Delap (£1m), Williams (£500k), Ryan, Kaba, Scanlon, Sharpe (£2m), plus nominal fees for Bennett, Hanson, and a few others). In total, that's just shy of £30m. It would have been higher if we were allowed to function like a normal club over the past 4 years by selling academy players and reinvesting that money into the squad.
However, we weren't allowed to sign anyone, meaning we couldn't afford to sell players due to squad size. We weren't even allowed to give academy players time on the pitch as it would have resulted in being unable to sign players, or even give extensions to existing players, resulting in us releasing youngsters.

Thinking of buying one of the flats overlooking the pitch at Matlock, booked a viewing for 8th of July 3 o’clock, should probably take about two hours 😉

Might have to switch it to Pride Park, or Old Trafford.😂

I know a lot of comments on this thread are tongue in cheek and it's doing a wonderful job of filling the non-footy void but there is an undercurrent of 'our players aren't very good, are over-paid and shouldn't be in these flashy destinations'.
There are approx 125,000 doctors in the UK, ~45,000 of whom are consultants, and approximately 5,000 professional footballers and these 'overpaid 3rd division footballers' are probably in the top  1000 - 1500. The number of kids who want to be pro-footballers compared to rugby players or doctors is unimaginably huge.
People should listen to Trent Alexander Arnold and what he is saying about the football machine and how it expects everything from kids, from the age of 6 in some cases, and spits them out when they find a better or bigger option.
These lads have made it through hard work, perseverance and ability.
Are footballers paid too much? Possibly. But let's not sneer at them for 'only' being third division footballers. 
I played Sunday league football and have been to Pompeii. I assume I should refer myself to the Holiday Destination Being Too Nice For Your Footballing Ability Ombudsman. 

There are a few factors
1. It's weighted by division rather than pure numbers.
2. They split the points between the number of academies they've been in (not sure on age cut off)
3. Only English players are counted. This also excludes players who have switched allegiances. 
4. It ignores players who have moved abroad, even if playing in the Bundesliga, Serie A, La Liga, etc
Perhaps the biggest factor is the rankings are based on all player ages (even those in their 40s). However, our academy is immature in terms of production line. Between Huddlestone coming through 20 years ago and Vernam (now 26), I believe there was only Mutch (a few games for Crawley) and Hughes (Palace) who count.
Since then, we produced a high number of lower league ENGLISH players. In order of age since Vernam, Guy, Rawson, Bennett, Kellan Gordon, Lowe.
We're then into our promising group of graduates who ar emore likely to play PL football: Bird, Buchanan, Whittaker, Sibley, Delap, Gordon, etc.
It takes 10 years for a player to make it through the academy system, then another 15 years a club's productivity ranking to be fully mature. We have at least another 10 years to go to reach that stage.

There are a few factors
1. It's weighted by division rather than pure numbers.
2. They split the points between the number of academies they've been in (not sure on age cut off)
3. Only English players are counted. This also excludes players who have switched allegiances. 
4. It ignores players who have moved abroad, even if playing in the Bundesliga, Serie A, La Liga, etc
Perhaps the biggest factor is the rankings are based on all player ages (even those in their 40s). However, our academy is immature in terms of production line. Between Huddlestone coming through 20 years ago and Vernam (now 26), I believe there was only Mutch (a few games for Crawley) and Hughes (Palace) who count.
Since then, we produced a high number of lower league ENGLISH players. In order of age since Vernam, Guy, Rawson, Bennett, Kellan Gordon, Lowe.
We're then into our promising group of graduates who ar emore likely to play PL football: Bird, Buchanan, Whittaker, Sibley, Delap, Gordon, etc.
It takes 10 years for a player to make it through the academy system, then another 15 years a club's productivity ranking to be fully mature. We have at least another 10 years to go to reach that stage.

If any club has aspiration of being in the Premier League, they have to have at least a Category 3 Academy (starting from 24/25). As such, Brentford started that transition this season by opening a Category 4 Academy. It will take them 2 full seasons to improve their infrastructure to meet Category 3 requirements. This is despite previously having a Category 2 Academy up until 2016.
The long term rewards from maintaining a Category 1 Academy far outweigh the short term savings from dropping down a category (or more).

You left out Buchanan.

If any club has aspiration of being in the Premier League, they have to have at least a Category 3 Academy (starting from 24/25). As such, Brentford started that transition this season by opening a Category 4 Academy. It will take them 2 full seasons to improve their infrastructure to meet Category 3 requirements. This is despite previously having a Category 2 Academy up until 2016.
The long term rewards from maintaining a Category 1 Academy far outweigh the short term savings from dropping down a category (or more).

If any club has aspiration of being in the Premier League, they have to have at least a Category 3 Academy (starting from 24/25). As such, Brentford started that transition this season by opening a Category 4 Academy. It will take them 2 full seasons to improve their infrastructure to meet Category 3 requirements. This is despite previously having a Category 2 Academy up until 2016.
The long term rewards from maintaining a Category 1 Academy far outweigh the short term savings from dropping down a category (or more).

If any club has aspiration of being in the Premier League, they have to have at least a Category 3 Academy (starting from 24/25). As such, Brentford started that transition this season by opening a Category 4 Academy. It will take them 2 full seasons to improve their infrastructure to meet Category 3 requirements. This is despite previously having a Category 2 Academy up until 2016.
The long term rewards from maintaining a Category 1 Academy far outweigh the short term savings from dropping down a category (or more).

Oduroh is listed in the first team squad despite still being viewed as an U21 by Warne.
Moore, Moloney, Richards, will be stepping up after completing their scholarships.
Hawkins has been a regular all of last season despite only being a 1st year scholar.
Cox, KRobinson, Davidson, DBrown and Wheeldon had a taste of U21 football last season as 1st year scholsrs and will be looking to build on that.
I'm not expecting many signings, due to having an effective squad size of 17 prior to any being loaned out, and match day squads being boosted by a deeper first team (players needing minutes) and U18s squad members filling in when needed (Gill, McAndrew, etc).

You left out Buchanan.

A week away in June. 2 adults, 2 kids.
I can go on an all inclusive holiday to Spain, 4 star hotel and flights included for £1600. Add an extra £100 for taxi or parking... £1700
Or, I can go to Llandudno and pay £1000 for a 4 star hotel with breakfast, pay £100 for fuel and parking, spend £500 on food and drinks, waste £100 in the arcades and cheap tat... £1700
You could go on a caravan holiday with the likes of Haven and it'll be £200-500 cheaper for the week.
But, I'd still choose the holiday abroad for two main reasons. 
1. The weather
2. The convenience of not having to do anything

Joe Ward for RWB on a free would be great value. Not many others who would be available for a reasonable fee

A week away in June. 2 adults, 2 kids.
I can go on an all inclusive holiday to Spain, 4 star hotel and flights included for £1600. Add an extra £100 for taxi or parking... £1700
Or, I can go to Llandudno and pay £1000 for a 4 star hotel with breakfast, pay £100 for fuel and parking, spend £500 on food and drinks, waste £100 in the arcades and cheap tat... £1700
You could go on a caravan holiday with the likes of Haven and it'll be £200-500 cheaper for the week.
But, I'd still choose the holiday abroad for two main reasons. 
1. The weather
2. The convenience of not having to do anything

A week away in June. 2 adults, 2 kids.
I can go on an all inclusive holiday to Spain, 4 star hotel and flights included for £1600. Add an extra £100 for taxi or parking... £1700
Or, I can go to Llandudno and pay £1000 for a 4 star hotel with breakfast, pay £100 for fuel and parking, spend £500 on food and drinks, waste £100 in the arcades and cheap tat... £1700
You could go on a caravan holiday with the likes of Haven and it'll be £200-500 cheaper for the week.
But, I'd still choose the holiday abroad for two main reasons. 
1. The weather
2. The convenience of not having to do anything

Bris may have been talking about net spend?
22/23 - £11m profit (Sterling, Jesus, Zinchenko, Porro, Itakura, Muric, Rosa vs Haaland, Phillips, Akanji, Gomez, Perrone)
21/22 - £40m net (Torres, Angelino, Harrison, Nmecha vs Grealish, Alvarez)
20/21 - £95m net (Sane, Otamendi vs Dia, Ake, Torres, Bustos, Rosa, Couo, Kabore)
19/20 - £83m net (Danilo, Luiz, Delph, Garcia, Mari vs Rodri, Cancelo, Angelino, Porro, Steffen, Meshino)
18/19 - £18m net (Diaz, Gunn, Denayer, Maffeo, Hart, Celina, Kayode vs Mahrez, Palaversa, Sandler, Itakura, Arzani)
£225m total over 5 years (£45m average)

Joe Ward for RWB on a free would be great value. Not many others who would be available for a reasonable fee

Joe Ward for RWB on a free would be great value. Not many others who would be available for a reasonable fee

"last year this had increased to 50%, and now it's jumped to 66%, which the scientists say means it's "more likely than not.""
What would we do without scientists to explain how percentages work 😂