Profit and sustainability rules and financial fair play. Those are the words which will dominate early talk of transfers this summer, offering Brighton and Tony Bloom a unique opportunity to strengthen their squad.
Nottingham Forest and Everton have already been hit with points deductions. Chelsea FC Holdings controversially sold a hotel to their own parent company BlueCo to get £76.3 million onto the Blues’ balance book to comply with PSR.
Leicester City are not even in the Premier League, yet will be in big trouble if they win promotion. Many other clubs are so close to breaking PSR that they cannot afford to spend much unless they sell first.
And then there is the Albion. Sitting on record-breaking profits for the 2022-23 of £122.8 million, Brighton have no such PSR-induced worries over spending money on transfers this summer.
Premier League Profit and Sustainability Rules
PSR sets a limit of £105 million on how much clubs are allowed to lose over a three-year period. Those who go beyond £105 million are referred to an independent commission.
As Everton and Forest have discovered, punishments include points deductions. These can have a severely detrimental impact on club’s positions in the league table.
City’s cases is different. Their 115 charges relate to submitting fraudulent figures over a sustained period to pass PSR.
This is obviously far more serious and complex than Everton and Forest showing exactly where they have broken the rules through their submitted accounts.
It also means City can challenge any findings and punishments. Abu Dhabi will spend billions on the best lawyers to protect their great sportswashing project. It would be a disaster for their reputation should City be found guilty.
What PSR means for the summer transfer window?
June 30th appears the key date when it comes to linking PSR and the summer transfer window. This is when the 2024-25 season kicks off financially.
Those clubs who are close to breaking PSR for the accounting period covering the 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons may then be able to spend more once the 2021-22 campaign is no longer relevant.
Most experts believe this is why the January transfer window was one of the quietest on record. They also predict the summer will be slow to get going, with most clubs unable or unwilling to spend big until July.
Advantage Brighton for summer transfers?
Much of the Premier League being forced into a slow start to summer transfers is potentially good news for Brighton. The Albion can steal a march on other clubs hamstrung by PSR.
To fully take advantage of the situation may require a change in approach. Spending more money on Premier League-ready players rather than focussing on young footballers with the potential to improve.
Any such change would represent a gamble for Brighton. Everyone knows Tony Bloom is a betting man. But he only gambles when the data tells him it is to his advantage. Hence why he has made millions for himself and the very rich clientele the StarLizard company he founded advise.
Bloom has shown a willingness to gamble when it comes to the Albion too. Giving Gus Poyet a first managerial job with Brighton battling relegation from League One at the time.
Replacing Chris Hughton with Graham Potter out of a desire for a new, attack-minded, possession-based style of football. Appointing the previously unheard of Roberto De Zerbi as head coach when Potter left for Chelsea. All of those went rather well.
The question now is will Bloom be willing to gamble on summer transfers in the opening months of a window when the Albion will be in the strange position of having spending power most Premier League clubs can only dream of?
What has Tony Bloom said about summer transfers?
With so much talk and speculation swirling around the future of De Zerbi, Brighton strengthening their squad whilst not selling any more of the family silver this summer has been intrinsically linked with the Seagulls holding onto their current head coach for 2024-25.
Alex Crook exclusively revealed in his talkSPORT transfer notebook back in February: “Brighton’s case for keeping De Zerbi is helped by the fact they are not under financial pressure to sell any more of their star players.”
“In fact, owner Tony Bloom has ambitious recruitment plans for the upcoming summer transfer window as he bids to transform the Sussex side into an established European outfit.”
The Lesley Ugochukwu example
The summer 2023 transfer window was somewhat frustrating for the Albion. A couple of key targets opted to move elsewhere, including Mohammed Kudus from Ajax to West Ham United and Lesley Ugochukwu joining Chelsea from Rennes.
Ugochukwu highlights the advantageous position Brighton are in coming into this summer. The French youngster was seen as a possible replacement for Moises Caicedo, only to end up at Stamford Bridge himself.
This time around, a player targeted by the Albion and Chelsea will only have Brighton as a realistic destination before July 1st thanks to PSR.
The story will potentially repeat itself for numerous player targets. Whereas the Albion would be doing battle with Chelsea, Everton and the rest in previous transfer windows, there will be far less competition through to June 30th.
Good footballers will have fewer options, allowing Brighton to possibly target a better calibre of player. Presuming Bloom is willing to spend bigger fees and offer higher wages.
Brighton summer outgoing transfers
Premier League clubs being more cautious when it comes to summer spending and transfers is good news for Brighton in another department.
In each of the past three summers, the Albion have seen key players sold. Ben White. Yves Bissouma. Marc Cucurella. Alexis Mac Allister. Caicedo.
The current PSR climate should make it harder for clubs to spend mega-money. Brighton therefore stand a greater chance of holding onto their most important assets, like Kaoru Mitoma and Joao Pedro.
Brighton picking the bones of PSR-hit clubs
PSR will not only restrict initial summer spending of those clubs struggling to comply. It may also force them into selling players below market value in an attempt to cut loses.
This represents another big advantage for Brighton, who can pick the bones of PSR-hit clubs. Hello, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.
The Albion tried to sign the midfielder who sounds like a posh wedding venue in January. Leicester though were able to resist.
Whether they can do afford to do so in the summer should Brighton make another offer remains to be seen. Selling Dewsbury-Hall would allow Leicester reduce some of their PSR-breaking losses.
Flogging homegrown academy products like Dewsbury-Hall is particularly useful because of what is known as book value. Profit from player sales is calculated from what a club initially paid and the time the individual has been at a club.
It means that if Chelsea for example sold Cucurella for £15 million just two years after paying £62 million for him, no profit would show on their accounts to reduce their losses.
When it comes to academy players, the entire fee received is pure profit. If Brighton sign Dewsbury-Hall for £30 million, the entire £30 million counts towards reducing PSR losses.
This is why Chelsea were considering selling Connor Gallagher for a knockdown fee of £40 million last summer. Imagine the irony of Brighton bidding for Gallagher, Chelsea having to accept and sell their captain to the Albion in an attempt to avoid breaking PSR limits.
It is an entirely plausible situation. PSR will make the summer 2024 transfer window one of the most interesting for a long time.
Will Brighton take advantage of it?
