All Premier League clubs have successfully adhered to the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules for the previous season. Everton and Aston Villa both offloaded their women’s teams prior to last year’s June deadline in a bid to generate revenue for compliance in a move that raised a few eyebrows.

Premier League sides were required to submit their accounts for the 2024/25 season by December 31. Teams are allowed losses up to £105million over a rolling three-year period. The Premier League’s finance team has verified that all clubs have complied with PSR regulations, as reported by The Times. They seemingly achieved this without resorting to the flurry of transfers that occurred in June 2024 when clubs were rushing to comply the previous year, with plenty of last-minute deals being dubbed as “PSR transfers”.

Certain clubs found themselves in a markedly different position. After only securing Federico Chiesa before clinching the league title in 2024/25, Liverpool had a bustling June of fresh acquisitions.

Jeremie Frimpong, Milos Kerkez, Armin Pesci and Florian Wirtz all joined the Anfield ranks as the Reds shattered their transfer record. The Merseyside outfit had flexibility after a period of financial restraint, though it is unclear just how much flexibility they could have in the market this summer, after the record £446million in expenditure.

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Similarly, Manchester United had leeway to negotiate deals immediately following the Premier League campaign. The agreement to bring in Matheus Cunha was accounted for in the 2024/25 financial year for bookkeeping purposes, while they then went on to sign Bryan Mbeumo, Benjamin Sesko, and Senne Lammens in the following accounting year.

That indicates last season’s player expenditure exceeded £340million despite their Premier League difficulties. The sum represents the third-largest single-season outlay in the division’s history, which has seen them turn things around compared to the previous campaign.

United’s PSR flexibility arises as the Premier League’s assessment was founded on Red Football Limited’s financial results, rather than Manchester United PLC. Substantial expenditure unconnected to football operations could be excluded.

Losses proved considerably lower than initially projected, with The Athletic reporting that United could register losses surpassing £140m in 2024/25 whilst remaining PSR compliant. Manchester United’s latest accounts have also given some insight into the club’s health, with the headline figure being a £32.6million operating profit in the first six months of the year, compared to a £3.9million operating loss last year.

Whilst Aston Villa look set to satisfy Premier League regulations, they face potential UEFA sanctions. The European governing body possesses the authority to levy financial penalties.

A substantial fine is anticipated following the club’s breach of UEFA’s squad cost regulation. Financial sanctions are applied when a club’s expenditure on player salaries, transfers and agents exceeds 70 per cent of its revenue.

Those rules are set to be adapted by Premier League clubs for next year, with a vote confirming that they will introduce the squad cost ratio (SCR) as the next form of financial governance. SCR will take a percentage of a club’s revenue as the amount they are allowed to spend on the overall squad.

It allows for more real-time monitoring of clubs’ finances, rather than taking them over a three-year period, but questions remain over how much it could limit certain clubs. With ten years of PSR coming to an end, with plenty of teams finding loopholes, the introduction of SCR could be the next ruleset to change the landscape of English football again.

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