Newcastle United's controversial £68m summer transfer move pays off as Premier League release statement

 · January 14 2025, 13:30
Newcastle United's controversial £68m summer transfer move pays off as Premier League release statement
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Newcastle United had an awful week in the summer which saw them sell two top-quality youngsters to Premier League rivals in a desperate bid to comply with Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR).

At this point, we can't imagine there are any fans out there who feel that PSR is a good idea. A rule designed to stop such a cavernous disparity between the top clubs and the bottom clubs in the league has actually served only to widen the gap.

Clubs like Newcastle United and Aston Villa who have the financial backing to do whatever they like, can't do so because of the outdated PSR rules which allow losses of just £105 million over a three-year rolling period. A figure which hasn't changed since the rules came into effect over ten years ago. Indeed, football finance expert Kieran Maguire said on TalkSPORT yesterday that the figure should be closer to £220 million based on the increase in football finances in that period.

However, the Premier League are sticking with PSR and today was the day they'd announce whether any clubs were in breach of the rules which would have seen points deductions handed out as punishment.

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Newcastle sold two popular young stars to comply with PSR in the summer

Newcastle United sold Yankuba Minteh to Brighton for £33 million in the summer as well as Elliot Anderson to Nottingham Forest for £35 million with Odysseas Vlachodimos coming the other way for £20 million (there was only one winner there).

Eddie Howe spoke about those deals today when asked if he expects the club to be compliant with PSR and he labelled them as deals nobody wanted to do (h/t The Chronicle).

"The breaching of financial fair play for us was something that we fought really hard against in the summer to not be in that position - and that's why the departures of the ones we didn't want to happen had to happen."
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No clubs were found to have breached PSR this year

The unpopular move paid off in the end as the Premier League have today confirmed (via Sky Sports) that no clubs were in breach of PSR this time around.

That will be huge news for the likes of Nottingham Forest and Everton who were handed points deductions last season and were still at risk this season.

Chelsea were also in the mix, but after selling their own assets to *checks notes* themselves, they too have avoided sanctions.

The rule is a joke, the punishments are arbitrary, £105 million over three years is nothing in football terms. JUST. SCRAP. PSR.

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