Several clubs have been active in the transfer market in recent weeks, including Aston Villa, Chelsea and Everton. The deals that these three clubs have made have somehow become a concern for the Premier League as an organisation.
The Premier League is concerned that these deals, seemingly conducted to improve the clubs’ PSR situations, could have a significant impact on the league.
The deals in question
You may ask what deals they could be? Well, it seems that Aston Villa selling an England youth international midfielder, Tim Iroegbunam, to Everton for £9m is a massive deal.
One of the other deals that seems to be the focus of attention is Everton winger Lewis Dobbin, also an England under-19 international, moving in the opposite direction to Villa for a fee of £10m.
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Then there is Villa youngster Omari Kellyman, who joined Chelsea from Villa for £19m and has represented England and Northern Ireland at underage levels.
According to opposition fans and one particularly vocal shareholder at one of the so-called ‘Big Six’, he has reportedly expressed his concerns to the Premier League.
Well, that seems strange, as all three players are highly rated and have all been part of their club’s respective Premier League squads in season 2023/24, even if they only played bit-part roles.
The Premier League are suddenly acting
In the past, young players have been sold for similar or even bigger fees by the likes of Liverpool and Manchester City. See Shea Charles to Southampton or Rhian Brewster to Sheffield United. Why were these deals not questioned?
According to numerous reports, the Premier League have now sent out a letter to the 14, I mean 20, Premier League clubs about doing these sorts of deals to manipulate their PSR positions.
Sorry, but doesn’t the Premier League want the clubs to stay in line with PSR? Of course, they do, so they gave out points deductions to Everton and Nottingham Forest in season 2023/24.
They are so worried about PSR that they forgot to investigate how Chelsea circumvented the PSR rules by selling a hotel to themselves. But it is Villa and Everton who are the villains here.
However, let’s make it clear that neither club is breaking the rules and hasn’t done anything wrong by selling their academy prospects. Both clubs would have ideally liked to have kept their talented young players.
Instead, they have been forced to sell them to comply with the rules as they desperately attempt to stay within the outdated PSR rules.
PSR rules are designed to keep it competitive
Last season, Aston Villa were one of the surprise packages of the Premier League campaign, sealing a spot in the Champions League next season, which most right-minded people would say is great news for the competitiveness of the Premier League.
However, they have had to sell players and wheel and deal in the transfer market to stay within the PSR rules. Supposedly, the rules are to stop clubs from spending beyond their means and keep the league competitive.
That’s funny because a certain club facing 115 PSR charges has won the Premier League in four of the last five seasons. Is that competitive?
Also, Villa’s owners are super rich. They have the finances to keep the Villans afloat. Is Villa in danger of going under? No. Neither is Newcastle United, who finished in the top four in season 2022/23 and could now be forced to sell their best players to comply with the PSR rules.
Don’t threaten their precious money cows
The problem is that the Premier League favours certain clubs. Most people know who they are. If clubs outside that cabal of clubs threaten to cause the so-called ‘Big-Six’ any discomfort, they are immediately slapped down.
The fact that the aforementioned shareholder of one of those six clubs has reportedly raised concerns about the deals and how they acted tells you everything you need to know about the Premier League and their priorities.
That shareholder threw his toys out of the pram because one of the clubs outside of the six rather cheekily demanded a big fee for one of the best young players in the Premier League.
How dare that club not just bow down and allow their talented young star to be bought for a smaller fee than the so-called ‘Big Club’ wanted to pay.
The Premier League rarely intervened on transfers, except when Chelsea sold several of their unwanted players for big fees in previous windows. However, were the Blues punished for selling their own players at an alleged price? No.
The Premier League seems to be very interested in transfers conducted by some clubs, yet others are not even looked at.
The rules are the problem
In reality, the PSR system is outdated and favours the clubs with the biggest revenue. Some may say that clubs agreed to the current system over a decade ago, but inflation has not been taken into account.
Clubs can never gain more revenue by being successful because they must sell their top players and younger stars.
The clubs with more revenue can then take advantage of those needing to sell to comply with PSR, maybe buying players cheaper than their actual value.
The Premier League should be looking after ALL 20 clubs
From the outside, it seems that the Premier League is protecting the interests of the six clubs that bring in the most money, as they fear the power they seemingly hold.
In normal industries, that may be accepted, but the football club fans are the lifeblood of the English game. They are the ones that keep the Premier League going.
The likes of Aston Villa, Newcastle United and Everton have big fan bases, maybe not as big as some of the biggest earners in the Premier League, but still significant.
The Premier League may feel that looking after the six clubs is in the best interest of their organisation. However, it certainly isn’t in the best interests of most clubs in the English top flight. Maybe they should start looking after ALL 20 of their clubs, not just six.
Does the Premier League have the best interests of all 20 Premier League clubs?