Exclusive: Crystal Palace £17m windfall on the line ahead of UEFA decision
Crystal Palace have a potential boost of £17million towards their summer transfer window on the line as they await a decision from UEFA.
That is according to football finance expert Dan Plumley, who revealed to Football Insider the Eagles could be set to miss out on a financial boost.
Palace’s 1-0 win over Man City in the FA Cup final not only brought with it the club’s first piece of major silverware, but also a place in next season’s Europa League.
However, the Eagles’ place is under threat due to UEFA‘s rules on multi-club ownership, as John Textor is the majority stakeholder in both the South London club and French side Lyon, who have also qualified for the competition.
The American businessman missed the deadline to put his Palace shares into a blind trust in March and is now weighing up an offer for his shares from New York Jets owner Woody Johnson, according to The Telegraph.
It is as yet unknown if Textor selling his shares will impact UEFA’s decision, but the majority shareholder wants to do what he can to avoid the club being expelled from Europe and may be willing to accept a cut-price deal [BBC Sport].
Europa League worth £17m to Crystal Palace
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, finance expert Plumley revealed the financial implications for Palace if they are removed from the Europa League.
He said: “If you look at Europa League as a minimum for an English club under the new format, you are talking in the region of €15-20m (£12.75m-17m) for participation in the league phase.
“The scale there is dependent on match day income and corporate hospitality add-ons around that baseline participation fee you get in and around that €15m (£12.75m) mark.
“That’s what Palace would have access to, should they be allowed entry into that competition.”
Nottingham Forest aggressively hunting £17m windfall
Plumley told Football Insider on 11 June that Nottingham Forest were also in the hunt for the £17m Europa League football would grant.
Owner Evangelos Marinakis put his shares into a blind trust in March, as he owns Greek side Olympiacos.
Forest have since written to UEFA expressing their concerns over Palace‘s participation in the Europa League.
That letter is seemingly motivated by the fact that if the Eagles are denied entry, the Tricky Trees would take their place in the competition after finishing seventh in the Premier League and qualifying for the Conference League.
Such a sum may no longer be completely transformative for rich Premier League sides, but in an age of spending rules it is certainly going to be a sore one to miss out.