‘Aston Villa and Chelsea have advantage over Newcastle after financial breach’
Aston Villa and Chelsea have an advantage over Newcastle United following their financial breaches.
Uefa confirmed on 4 July Chelsea have been fined £26.7million and could be fined a further £51.2million if they don’t comply with the rules in the next four years.
Meanwhile, Villa have been fined £9.5million, with the potential of a further £12.9million penalty if they fail to comply in a three-year period.
The punishments relate to a breach of Uefa’s football earnings regulations and its squad cost ratio, where clubs in European competitions were required to keep spending on player wages and fees to 80 per cent of revenue in 2024.
Finance expert Stefan Borson exclusively told Football Insider Villa and Chelsea won’t be tested by Uefa over a three-year period until the final year of their settlement agreements, while the other Premier League clubs competing in Europe will be.
Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City and Newcastle are set to play in the Champions League next season, with Villa featuring in the Europa League.
Meanwhile, Nottingham Forest are also currently set to play in the Europa League after Crystal Palace have been demoted to the Conference League.
Aston Villa to avoid financial breach
Borson insisted Villa and Chelsea will have an advantage over the likes of Newcastle due to their settlement agreements.
He told Football Insider: “There is a test for the year that’s just gone.
“But the chances are Aston Villa know exactly what the year looks like for 30 June 2025, so there’s no way they’re going to fail.
“What both of the settlement agreements do in respect to the football earnings tests are that they both allow Villa and Chelsea to worry about individual years and not about three-year rolling tests until the last year of the settlement agreement.
“That doesn’t sound like a big deal, but if you were to compare it to Nottingham Forest, Crystal Palace and Newcastle, whereas all of those three clubs will be tested on a three-year basis when we get to this position next summer, Aston Villa and Chelsea will not because Aston Villa and Chelsea are in a settlement period.
“So, in many ways, Chelsea and Aston Villa will have an advantage over Newcastle. Now, there are wrinkles to that statement because it’s a complicated equation they’ve got to balance.
“They have got to balance what will the three-year period look like by the time they get to the end of the settlement period, how does it fit within the settlement agreement they’ve done and, laid on top of that, how does it look in terms of PSR for the Premier League, so it’s not completely freehand.”
Nicolas Jackson to Aston Villa update emerges
In terms of transfer activity, Football Insider revealed on 20 July Villa are ready to reunite Unai Emery with Nicolas Jackson after the pair previously worked together at Villarreal.
Villa have held preliminary talks with Chelsea over Jackson as they look to bolster their attacking options this summer.
The 24-year-old registered 13 goals and six assists in 37 appearances last season.
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