Newcastle United have less than 36 hours to find enough money to plug a £30million gap in their accounts before the PSR reporting cut-off point expires and the club face the possibility of a points deduction.
The reporting year deadline is rapidly approaching - why it's in the middle of a transfer window, we'll never know - but with Newcastle reportedly somewhere between £25m-£30million over the three-year allowable loss limit, they need to raise funds and fast.
All week there have been reports that Yankuba Minteh would be sold to make up the shortfall just one year after his £6.5m arrival from OB Odense. The 19-year-old Gambian signed for Newcastle and immediately after, signed a one-year loan at Dutch club Feyenoord where he went on to be hugely impressive.
That form has attracted interest from several clubs and now, he's Newcastle's only player that's generating immediate interest, so while they'd probably rather not sell, the club are being forced to part with one of their most promising young stars in order to appease the Premier League's arbitrary PSR target.
After moves to Everton and Lyon both failed to materialse last week for different reasons, it now looks as though Minteh is heading south to Brighton and Hove Albion as he gets his wish to remain in the Premier League.
Newcastle had initially rejected a £30million approach from Brighton but The Athletic has now claimed that a £33million deal has been agreed and personal terms are not expected to be a problem.
That should see things move quickly to get things over the line before tomorrow's deadline, or at least give Newcastle enough room to tell the Premier League that the deal was at least in motion before the deadline so that they may still avoid a points deduction.
Minteh is on his way back from Gambia to enter talks with Brighton tonight and undergo a medical, so it looks like it is all systems go.
We'll never really know whether Minteh was ever earmarked for a quick flip if PSR wasn't a thing, but a £26.5million profit on a player who never even trained with the club can't really be sniffed at, can it?
Now we all get to watch on and see if he could actually cut it in the Premier League and whether this forced move ends up being a blessing or a curse.
PL | GD | PTS | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Liverpool
|
14 | 18 | 35 |
2 |
Chelsea
|
15 | 17 | 31 |
3 |
Arsenal
|
15 | 14 | 29 |
4 |
Manchester City
|
15 | 6 | 27 |
5 |
Nottingham Forest
|
15 | 1 | 25 |
6 |
Aston Villa
|
15 | 0 | 25 |
7 |
Brighton
|
15 | 3 | 24 |
8 |
Bournemouth
|
15 | 3 | 24 |
9 |
Brentford
|
15 | 3 | 23 |
10 |
Fulham
|
15 | 2 | 23 |
11 |
Tottenham Hotspur
|
15 | 12 | 20 |
12 |
Newcastle United
|
15 | -2 | 20 |
13 |
Manchester United
|
15 | 1 | 19 |
14 |
West Ham United
|
15 | -8 | 18 |
15 |
Everton
|
14 | -7 | 14 |
16 |
Leicester
|
15 | -9 | 14 |
17 |
Crystal Palace
|
15 | -6 | 13 |
18 |
Ipswich
|
15 | -13 | 9 |
19 |
Wolves
|
15 | -15 | 9 |
20 |
Southampton
|
15 | -20 | 5 |