Ange Postecoglou’s arrival at Nottingham Forest comes after Evangelos Marinakis made a significant investment in the summer transfer window.
Marinakis is expecting an improvement on last season after a £200m transfer spree in the summer, which saw the Reds break their transfer record on two separate occasions.
In his first press conference at the club, Postecoglou hailed the Forest squad as potentially even stronger than the team he had at Tottenham, especially in terms of depth.
The investment from the Forest owner was remarkable, though, so Nottingham Forest News has spoken to football finance expert Adam Williams about where the club find themselves in terms of PSR.
Omari Hutchinson and James McAtee announced as Nottingham Forest players.
Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images
Nottingham Forest’s current PSR status after £200m spend
Forest’s £37m capture of Omari Hutchinson was the most expensive of the window, with the signings of Dan Ndoye and Dilane Bakwa not far behind.
According to Williams, though, this summer of spending shouldn’t leave Forest in too much trouble in terms of the PSR limits.
He said: “Nottingham Forest’s PSR travails of the last few years have, in my view, been a deliberate and successful gamble. They have recruited to a level that has got them into Europe, and they now have a wage bill befitting of a contender in Europe. They were at £166m in 2023-24.
“That will have risen significantly in 2024-25 and will do so again in 2025-26. I think there is a chance they will hit £200m in total wages this season, which is comparable to clubs like Inter Milan and Juventus.
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“Amortisation, meanwhile, which is how clubs account for transfer fees over a player’s contract term, is going to be creeping towards £100m annually. So they have very, very high costs to bear as far as PSR is concerned.
“Revenue in 2023-24 was just below £190m, so they are running at a significant operating loss before player sale profits. That said, I think they are going to be fine with Premier League PSR for at least this season, and probably next as well.”
Forest may well be comfortable in terms of the Premier League’s rules, but Williams has raised concerns about the UEFA regulations that the Reds must now consider.
Nottingham Forest must be wary of UEFA financial regulations
Forest have learned their Europa League opponents for the league phase, which include a rematch of the 1979 European Cup final with Malmö.
However, the Europa League qualification now means that the Reds have to be aware of UEFA’s financial rulings, something that Williams has warned about.
He said: “They will have made a loss in 2024/25, but probably not a particularly egregious one by Premier League standards. They made a good profit on Moussa Niakhate, and that deal went through before the 30 June accounting deadline, unlike Odysseas Vlachidimos and Orel Mangala.
“This summer, Anthony Elanga’s sale has also generated a chunky profit and will help to offset those operating losses somewhat. They should have loads of PSR headroom, especially with Europa League revenue and the extra matchdays at the City Ground.
“I do, however, think UEFA’s Squad Cost ratio and Football Earnings rule are going to be a lot more difficult. That’s a separate conversation – and a significantly more complex one at that.”