Newcastle have agreed ‘very expensive’ deal to avoid points deduction – Borson
Newcastle United appear to have signed Odysseas Vlachodimos from Nottingham Forest purely to help them avoid a profit and sustainability (PSR) breach.
That is the view of finance expert Stefan Borson, who exclusively told Football Insider the deal is likely to receive scrutiny from the Premier League due to the figures involved.
Newcastle are understood to have paid £20million to sign the 30-year-old goalkeeper hours before the 2023/24 accounting deadline on 30 June, while midfielder Elliot Anderson moved to the City Ground for £35million that very same day.
Both Premier League sides were close to the PSR limit last season, with a breach likely carrying the penalty of a points deduction.
The Athletic reported on 13 September Newcastle are believed to have handed Vlachodimos a five-year deal following his arrival at St James’ Park.
Newcastle could face Premier League questions after completing deal
Borson believes it was a “very expensive” deal for the Greek international just to avoid a potential spending breach.
He told Football Insider: “It’s a deal that’s going to have some scrutiny because it seems to make very little sense.
“It’s a very expensive deal just to get around PSR, which it does seem to be.
“I guess they could say that it wasn’t, but with the way that it’s portrayed in that Athletic piece, it does seem that the sole purpose of the deal was to get around PSR.
“In that circumstance, you would think the Premier League are going to have a look at it.
“We are all basing it off reporting. I have not got any inside information in terms of what went on there, but the reporting is quite interesting.
“The style of the reporting is not speculating. They clearly have been told some pretty specific stuff about the deal, so I think we can take it that the deal was at £20million and was related to PSR.
“Once you have got those two things in place, then the Premier League are bound to have a look at it.
“I’m not saying they are going to investigate it, I’m just saying that they are bound to ask some questions.
“They may have asked those questions and could already be happy with it, we don’t know.”
In other news, Sean Longstaff stance on quitting Newcastle for free revealed.
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