We’re approaching the summer transfer window and with that delightful orgy of rumours, nonsense and actual transfers comes the depressing certainty of PSR-enforced ‘pure profit’ sales.
And we’ve had a go at working out just how much cash Premier League clubs could earn through selling the players who have emerged from their academies, or merely set foot in them, in a bid to balance their books.
Here are the summer 2025 deals done already.
We’re not talking your Bukayo Sakas but the players we suspect clubs would sell at a push, or indeed without one, and have ranked the top-flight sides from least potential ‘pure profit’ to most.
We haven’t included the relegated trio as they’re dead to us, or players with a value of less than £1m, because who cares? The promoted pair are in though, except not Burnley, because they haven’t got any academy graduates to sell, just like Fulham and Wolves. The values come courtesy of the wonderful Transfermarkt.
West Ham: £3.4m
Oliver Scarles (£3.4m)
Probably won’t be sold this summer as we assume Scarles is at the start of a journey that will see him play a major role in winning a European trophy before West Ham almost entirely waste the £100m they will earn through his sale.
Bournemouth: £4.6m
Jaidon Anthony (£4.6m)
Not much in the way of pure profit but Bournemouth will likely reap the rewards of their savvy transfer business through the sales of some or all of Dean Huijsen, Milos Kerkez and Antoine Semenyo, for a profit approaching £100m.
Leeds: £6.8m
Sam Greenwood (£3.8m), Mateo Joseph (£3m)
That’s probably not going to be enough to build a Premier League squad.
Brentford: £10m
Yegor Yarmolyuk (£10m)
The burning question ahead of the summer will be whether they can retain Bryan Mbeumo and keep the third most-deadly attacking trio in Europe together.
Nottingham Forest: £11m
Ryan Yates (£11m)
You would have to drag him kicking and screaming from the City Ground but if there’s one owner who would do it…
READ MORE: Forest owner Marinakis ‘erupted’ in second Nuno clash as ‘eyewitnesses’ reveal ‘more explosive rant’
Arsenal: £15m
Reiss Nelson (£15m)
We can’t see anyone paying that much for Nelson after an injury-ravaged season on loan at Fulham, and while we would initially revel in Andrea Berta topping up his £300m transfer kitty through the sale of any of Bukayo Saka, Ethan Nwaneri or Myles Lewis-Skelly, the Arsenal fan head-losses would become too much very quickly.
Tottenham: £16.4m
Mikey Moore (£12.6m), Alfie Devine (£2.3m), Dane Scarlett (£1.5m)
Borussia Dortmund have supposedly added Moore to their summer shortlist because of course they have, and Spurs should bite their hand off it they meet Daniel Levy’s £50m asking price.
Manchester City: £21.8m
James McAtee (£15m), Josh Wilson-Esbrand (£3.4m), Divin Mubuma (£3.4m)
We don’t think James McAtee is another Cole Palmer but we would love it if that turned out to be the case, because City have already made far too much money on academy players they’ve not given two sh*ts about losing.
Crystal Palace: £27.2m
Tyrick Mitchell (£21m), Justin Devenny (£2.5m), Jesurun Rak-Saki (£2.5m), Joe Whitworth (£1.2m)
We could see one of the slightly bigger boys putting in a bid for Mitchell, but Palace will likely be fielding more frequent and pushy enquiries over Eberechi Eze, Adam Wharton and Jean-Philippe Mateta, whom we’re pretty convinced they will be entirely f***ed without.
Aston Villa: £28.5m
Jacob Ramsey (£27m), Kaine Kesler-Hayden (£1.8m)
Villa won’t have a pot to p*ss in if they miss out on the Champions League, making Ramsey – for quite a bit more than £27m we’re guessing – a hugely tempting, and likely necessary, sale.
Newcastle: £39m
Sean Longstaff (£18.5m), Lewis Miley (£18.5m)
If we were to put money on any transfer this summer it would be Sean Longstaff to Everton.
Everton: £42m
Jarrad Branthwaite (£42m)
They saw off Manchester United in the summer with an absurd asking price for Branthwaite and fair play to them. Selling him now would be bold given the David Moyes Effect, the new stadium and a supposed big chunk of change from the new owners to spend anyway, but we could also see him pushing for the exit with the World Cup in mind.
Brighton: £63.1m
Evan Ferguson (£27m), Jack Hinshelwood (£20.2m), Lewis Dunk (£6.7m), Solly March (£6.7m), Carl Rushworth (£2.5m)
They don’t get a lot wrong, but oh how the Brighton chiefs must regret not welcoming the ludicrous offers from Manchester United and Chelsea for Ferguson a year or so ago with open arms. No-one’s paying even £27m for him now.
Chelsea: £108.6m
Levi Colwill (£46m), Reece James (£25m), Trevoh Chalobah (£14.3m), Armando Broja (£11m), Alfie Gilchrist (£6.8m), Bashir Humphreys (£5.5m)
We were umming and aahing over whether to include Colwill and James before giving our heads a wobble and deciding that of course we should. After two years in which BlueCo have bled the ‘pure profit’ stone to the tune of £180m we should know full well that they do not give two shiny sh*ts about Ones Of Their Own. No one is safe.
Manchester United: £130.2m
Marcus Rashford (£42m), Kobbie Mainoo (£46m), Alejandro Garnacho (£38m), Toby Collyer (£4.2m)
You may well have been committed had you suggested this time last year that all of Rashford, Mainoo and Garnacho would be available for transfer in the summer of 2025, but here we are.
We don’t think Amorim wants any of them and particularly if United fail to win the Europa League and land the Champions League dosh, there will be little option but to send at least two, probably three, of them packing if the Portuguese boss wants to sign enough players to suit his hilariously ill-suited system and finish sixth next season.
Liverpool: £131.1m
Curtis Jones (£42m), Harvey Elliott (£29.5m), Jarell Quansah (£18.5m), Caoimhin Kelleher (£18.5m), Ben Doak (£12m), Stefan Bajcetic (£7.6m), Nat Phillips (£3m)
We’ve given up trying to work out if Jones is good enough for Liverpool or not, but we don’t think Slot would be overly disappointed to see him leave in order to sign someone else of a similar value. We’re pretty sure the others won’t ever make the grade though, and there will be several clubs vying for Elliott, Quansah and Kelleher.