As the 30 June 2024 PSR deadline drew near, the Premier League began to examine a number of moves.
For most teams, this was the last day of their 2023–24 season accounting period.
Additionally, a Premier League team could not have lost more than £105 million on this final day of the most recent three-year PSR accounting cycle, which ran from July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2024 (although not all club expenses are included in PSR losses).
Approximately a quarter of a billion dollars was paid on Premier League players in the final four days of June 2024.
The majority of such money was spent on players from teams whose PSR violations were thought to be possible.
Many of these transactions, which involved back-and-forth negotiations between various teams, were said to be in jeopardy.
The six teams that were often discussed in relation to the most recent PSR deadline were Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Leicester, Newcastle United, and Everton.
The Premier League is considering the following, according to The Guardian, which broke the story:
Tim Iroegbunam and Lewis Dobbin, both academy graduates, were traded by Everton and Villa for an estimated £9 million apiece in separate deals. After that, Villa—who lost £119 million the previous season—sold Chelsea the adolescent Omari Kellyman for an estimated £19 million, while Ian Maatsen, a Dutch defender, moved to Chelsea for £37.5 million.Elliot Anderson, a 21-year-old midfielder for Newcastle, cost Forest more than £30 million, and Chelsea successfully signed Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall from Leicester for £30 million.
The Professional Footballers’ Association’s chief executive, Maheta Molango, has called the loophole “nonsensical,” although there is no indication that any of the participating clubs have broken any laws.
According to football finance expert Kieran Maguire, “the clubs have been very clever to say that these are not swaps, they are just individual deals signed off pretty soon after one another.” In general, nothing prevents them from stating, “I have a player you want, and vice versa.” We may decide that the prices are £10 million and £15 million, or we could decide that they are £25 million and £30 million, as we believe your player is worth £5 million more than mine. In any case, the extra £5 million is yours.
That seems to be the main motivation for these transfers. Furthermore, a true price does not exist: Brighton paid £32 million to acquire Yankuba Minteh from Newcastle, yet they are free of PSR problems. Therefore, one could argue that some of the other offerings don’t appear overpriced if that’s the price for a 19-year-old. However, he recently had an incredible season at Feyenoord.
According to Maguire, “any transaction for more than £1m may be subject to a fair market value review.” However, determining a fair price for a player is an almost hard task for those attempting to reach a consensus. Since each one is unique, there are no list costs for them; purchasing one is not like purchasing an iPad.
Despite this warning that clubs could be “requested to provide information and evidence to assist determination of whether the transaction should be considered as being conducted at arm’s length,” the Premier League’s director of governance is likely to look into some of the recent transactions. If not, “an evaluation of the transfer’s fair market value to ascertain the value at which the transaction can be approved will occur.”
My findings
After reading the above, it seems like the Premier League may investigate these deals anyway they choose, but in actuality, they are powerless to take any action—even if they believe that “sharp practice” has been involved.
This differs from Associated Party Transactions, when the purchasing and selling clubs have common ownership.
Regarding the specific agreements involving Newcastle United.
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