The internal politics of the Premier League may mean that the likes of Everton and Newcastle United will not be forced to give up on their PSR-busting recruitment approach just yet.
Newcastle and Everton are both scrambling to get within the Premier League’s £105m allowable loss limit before the three-year assessment period rolls over on 30th June.
Towards that end, the clubs tried to engineer a controversial quasi-swap deal that would have seen Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Yankuba Minteh change clubs in separate deals for roughly equivalent value.
The deal has now collapsed due to Everton’s £40m valuation of Calvert-Lewin, which Newcastle were not prepared to pay.
Everton have already got a similar deal over the line, however. That saw Lewis Dobbin head to Villa, with Tim Iroegbunam going the other way, each for around £9m.
In the latest twist, BBC Sport is reporting that one unnamed Premier League club is alarmed at these transactions, which have been worth £75m in total already this transfer window.
It is believed that the Premier League is exploring the possibility of setting up a working group to close the loophole.
However, that might be more difficult than it seems on first impression.
Everton and Newcastle could form alliance with PSR-threatened clubs
The Premier League’s constitution demands that any votes must be backed by two-thirds of all clubs.
Effectively, this means that a seven-team voting bloc can veto any proposals to change spending rules.
Everton and Newcastle would likely count themselves among that number, as would Chelsea and Aston Villa, who have also sanctioned similar quasi-swap deals.
There are a number of other clubs flirting with the upper limits of the Premier League’s spending rules that could also be persuaded to join the bloc.
Leicester City, Southampton, Nottingham Forest and Wolves are the obvious candidates, but even the likes of Man United could be considered potential allies.
Either way, it seems unlikely that the Premier League will force through any changes to the system any time soon.
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Why do ‘swap’ deals help the likes of Everton and Newcastle?
Clubs are actioning these kinds of deals essentially because of an accounting quirk.
PSR is assessed using clubs’ amortisation, which essentially means outgoing transfer fees are, from an accounting perspective, split over the course of a new signing’s contract.
By contrast, when a club is selling a player, any profit generated on his sale is bookable immediately.
So, for Everton and Newcastle, while these kinds of deals are not a silver bullet and will affect their PSR position in coming years, it is a short-term fix.