Newcastle United have been dealt a fresh transfer blow ahead of the PSR transfer deadline.
June 30 was a dreaded day for Newcastle United last summer as they scrambled to comply with the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules.
The Magpies had to raise a significant amount of revenue before June 30, 2024 or else they would have been handed a points deduction by the Premier League. They managed to avoid that through the last minute sales of Elliot Anderson to Nottingham Forest for £35million and Yankuba Minteh to Brighton & Hove Albion for £33million.
A year on and Newcastle are in a comfortable position when it comes to PSR, but they are still feeling the sting of the controversial rules. A month into the summer transfer window, The Magpies are yet to make a major signing.
Chelsea hijack Joao Pedro deal
Newcastle had been in talks to sign Brighton forward Joao Pedro only for Chelsea to swoop in and strike a deal to sign the Brazilian.
The Blues have been far and away the biggest spenders in the transfer window over the past few seasons with over £1billion spent without facing any PSR backlash. Chelsea have managed to circumvent the rules through signing players on long-term contracts and agreeing various property and women’s football club deals that have generated significant revenue on the books at least.
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In addition, the club have been able to make a significant amount of money through player sales. Newcastle have helped them in that regard with the £28million purchase of Lewis Hall as well as the £31million transfer of Tino Livramento.
Although Livramento joined from Southampton, Chelsea held a significant sell-on percentage for the full-back.
“For those wondering how Chelsea have managed to spend so much on players, take a look at the exit door over the last decade,” he wrote.
“Nobody does it better when it comes to player sale profits. The whole point about player trading is that trading involves buying and selling.
“Throw in a further £350million of real estate and women’s team sales, plus some player registrations being amortised over 8-9 years, and they have nothing to worry about from a PSR perspective.”
Meanwhile, Newcastle’s limited revenue through player sales and lower commercial revenue compared to the likes of Chelsea means they have to be more cautious when it comes to PSR.
Kieran Maguire hits out at PSR rules after Forest & Everton points deductions
While Maguire recognises why Chelsea are compliant with PSR, that doesn’t mean he agrees with the rules.
He slammed the rules as not being fit for purpose and designed to stifle the progress of clubs such as Newcastle, who are trying to compete at the top but are finding themselves limited by the financial rules in place.
“The Premier League PSR rules are about as fit for purpose as a chocolate teapot,” Maguire said. “Chelsea FC Holdings made a profit of £128m in 23/24 after selling the women’s team to itself.
“The parent company BlueCo 22 (which owns the men’s team, the women’s team and…Strasbourg) made a loss of £430m in the same period as cannot include intra-group transactions in the group accounts.
“Richard Masters keeps a straight face and says Chelsea have not broken any rules…because the rules on these types of deals are full of loopholes. If I was Everton or Forest would be livid.”
Everton and Nottingham Forest were both deducted points by the Premier League during the 2023/24 season for breaching PSR.
“The rules were introduced to stop the ‘Big Six’ becoming a ‘Big Eight’ or ‘Big Ten’ and make it difficult for ambitious/aspirational clubs such as Villa, Newcastle & Forest from using owner money to challenge the existing elite by creating a glass ceiling,” Maguire added.
“Either have rules which have been stress tested to stop exploitation of related party transactions loopholes etc OR scrap them totally. What we have is neither and it’s a mess where creative accountants and lawyers are worth as much as players.”
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