Kieran Maguire: £48m deal ‘pivotal’ to Nottingham Forest points deduction verdict
Nottingham Forest may avoid a points deduction if they can include the £48million sale of Brennan Johnson in their 2022/23 accounts.
That is the view of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who spoke exclusively to Football Insider about the likelihood of Forest breaching Financial Fair Play rules.
All 20 Premier League clubs were given a deadline of 31 December to submit their 2022/23 accounts, with the Premier League set to announce any breaches by this Sunday (14 January).
Football Insider revealed on Wednesday (3 January) that Forest are on the brink of a points deduction with their spending right on the limit of Profitability and Sustainability Rules.
Forest are allowed to make a loss of £61million over the past three years – a figure they could well breach in their 2022/23 accounts.
Should Forest be found guilty of spending breaches their financial case will be dealt with by April.
Maguire believes Johnson’s £48million move to Tottenham in the summer will be ‘pivotal’ to the verdict, but it depends on whether or not they can include the sale in their accounts.
“In the case of Nottingham Forest, there are groups of people connected to the industry that have been wagging with the knowledge that clubs have to submit their accounts by the 31st of December,” Maguire told Football Insider’s Sean Fisher.
“The Premier League then have to make some initial decisions by the 14th or 15th of January.
“I think what we have here is a lot of conjecture and a lack of clarity with regards to exactly how their financial performance was in 2022/23.
“Without knowing the wages that are being paid to players, I think it’s foolhardy to try to predict which side of the FFP line they will be on.
“Their position in the Championship meant that they were only just on the right side of the line for the assessment period ending the 30th of June 2022.
“That means they had no positive figures to hang out to carry over to 2022/23.
“It could be that bonuses paid for avoiding relegation and their activity in the transfer market, where they were very much focused on the buying side could mean that they have to be very clever.
“Whether they can include the sale of Brennan Johnson in their 22/23 figures for FFP purposes could be pivotal.“
In other news, Nottingham Forest open talks to re-sign former star