Premier League Clubs Discover Their Financial Fate as PSR Verdicts Drop
Reports indicate that all 20 Premier League teams have successfully complied with Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) for the 2024–25 campaign.
Several coaches have discussed the challenges of preventing PSR violations, but according to The Times, no problems have been identified in the financial records of any club in the top division.
Both Everton and Aston Villa are believed to have gained advantages from transferring their women's teams to parent organizations, mirroring Chelsea's contentious move in June 2024.
Premier League regulations allow such transactions to be counted as revenue, though UEFA does not recognize them.
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Although Villa's £55 million ($74.2 million) women's team sale to their parent company prevented Premier League violations, this strategy doesn't appear effective against UEFA's financial regulations.
Unai Emery's team is reported to have violated UEFA's squad cost regulation, which limits expenditure on player salaries, transfers and agent fees to 70% of revenue.
Villa's struggle with the squad cost regulation has persisted for several years—they received a £5.2 million fine last summer—and another compliance failure is expected to result in another substantial financial penalty.
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PSR rules have faced growing criticism since their 2025 implementation, with the exploitation of 'workarounds' such as women's team sales and other asset transfers further undermining confidence in the framework.
Consequently, Premier League administrators are pursuing rule modifications, with squad cost regulations expected to be part of the overhaul. England's premier division will initially adopt a more lenient approach, limiting spending to 85% of revenue—Villa's initial UEFA squad cost violation last summer occurred when Europe's governing body set its threshold at 80%.
Additionally, discussions have taken place regarding a mechanism called 'anchoring.'
The fundamental principle of anchoring involves linking each club's expenditure to the broadcast and commercial revenue generated by the bottom-placed team. All clubs would be restricted to spending no more than five times that figure on salaries, transfers and agents.
The highest spenders, specifically Manchester City, Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea, are the only group considered at risk of hitting the spending threshold, though data from the 2023–24 season revealed all 20 league teams would have remained within a theoretical anchoring limit.