Newcastle are facing a deadline to meet Premier League PSR rules by Sunday, and this is why they have considered selling Anthony Gordon to Liverpool, but why do the have to sell?
You may have noticed several key Newcastle players being mooted to leave the club this summer, including Gordon and striker Alexander Isak.
It is not by free will that the Magpies are trying to offload key players as they have until Sunday, June 30, to comply with the Premier League‘s profit and sustainability rules (PSR).
PSR was introduced to encourage clubs to live within their means as they limit a club’s losses to £105 million over a three-year period, and the accounting deadline is this Sunday.
Despite Newcastle‘s new-found wealth with their Saudi owners, they need to raise funds to balance their books and the clock is ticking for them to do so, or risk a point deduction next season.
Why the clock is ticking
Everton and Nottingham Forest were both handed deductions last season for breaching PSR, and the Toffees still find themselves in the same boat as Newcastle this summer.
Aston Villa and Chelsea are under the same microscope and recently it has become noticeable that a number of these clubs looking to avoid a breach of PSR have looked to expose loopholes, as BBC Sport explains:
“When a club sells a player, any profit is recorded in its entirety in that year’s accounts, with homegrown academy players generating ‘pure’ profit.
“In contrast, the amount paid by the buying club is spread out – using an accounting practice called amortisation – over the length of the contract.
“So if two clubs agree to sell players to each other, especially academy players, it could provide a significant financial boost.”
This, of course, would not relate to Liverpool as they are within PSR, but Newcastle would be able to boost their profits if they were to sell Gordon to the Reds for more than the £45 million they paid for him.
With every hour that ticks closer to Sunday’s deadline, their ability to haggle for a higher price lowers and maybe this is what Liverpool are waiting for having rejected the latest offering.
It is an interesting story to keep an eye on over the weekend as Newcastle need to sell or run the risk of a points deduction next season, which could be up to 10 depending on the size of the breach.
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