Newcastle could be forced to sell star in January amid PSR fear – Stefan Borson
Newcastle United could be forced to sell one of their players in January to avoid a potential profit and sustainability (PSR) breach this season.
That is the view of finance expert Stefan Borson, who exclusively told Football Insider the Tyneside club’s amortisation and wage costs could have risen to around £340million for this campaign.
Newcastle were believed to be close to the PSR limit last season, with top-flight clubs only permitted to make £105million of losses over a rolling three-year period.
The north-east giants were forced to sell Yankuba Minteh to Brighton for £30million and Elliot Anderson to Nottingham Forest for £35million before the 30 June accounting deadline to help them avoid a potential points deduction.
Speaking in a press conference on 6 December, Eddie Howe admitted he “can’t guarantee” retaining all his key players in January and he is well aware the club are striving to remain on the right side of the spending rules.
Newcastle’s latest published accounts showed their revenue rose to £250.3million for 2022-23, while CEO Darren Eales confirmed in July he expects the figure to have reached a club-record high last season by surpassing £300million.
Newcastle unlikely to spend in January without player sales
But Borson suggested the club are likely to be prepared to sell a player in January to avoid a potential spending breach.
He told Football Insider: “I am not expecting them to be spending really anything in January.
“The question I think is more likely to be whether they are going to have to start to think about player sales between now and 30 June as they did last year.
“That would be the big question and the big challenge for them. Some of that will depend upon where their wage bill landed last year and, therefore, what their wage bill is for this year and where their level of player amortisation is for the year.
“If you look at the forecasts for the season just gone, that was something like £225million on just wages and amortisation.
“That’s fine if you are doing well over £300million of turnover. I think they were doing that in the Champions League season.
“Of course, they have got no Europe this season, so we know that instantly on day one of the season they are £30million down like for like.
“The bottom line is, if as I expect wages plus amortisation is now up to let’s say £340million, that’s going to be a challenge for them because it’s going to be more than their revenue.
“That’s before you take any of the other costs into account. On the face of it, they may need to sell a player.
“They clearly have experience of trying to sell in January and maybe they feel that if they have to then they will.
“But the bottom line is, I don’t see that they have got great leeway to be buying players in January.”
In other news, Newcastle plan to accept offers for Kieran Trippier in January.
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