Sheffield United hit by devastating points deduction as ‘crisis’ revealed by Kieran Maguire
Sheffield United owner Prince Abdullah has caused a “cash flow crisis” at the club which has resulted in a points deduction.
That is the view of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who exclusively told Football Insider that Abdullah has been looking for an “exit route” since the club’s 2022-23 Championship campaign.
The EFL published a statement on Thursday (11 April) announcing that Sheffield United will face a two-point deduction next season if they are relegated from the Premier League with a further two points suspended until the end of the campaign.
The sanction relates to late transfer payments from the 2022-23 season, including some defaulted payments in excess of 550 days.
The Yorkshire outfit currently sit bottom of the Premier League, four points behind Burnley in 19th.
Sheffield United points deduction has come from owner ‘crisis’
Maguire explained that the points deduction news did not come as a surprise as Prince Abdullah is evidently not willing to cover costs at Bramall Lane.
“The owner at Sheffield United has been looking for an exit route for some time, and that has been the case in both the Premier League and when the club were in the Championship in 2022-23,” Maguire told Football Insider’s Sean Fisher.
“He wasn’t prepared to put in the necessary short-term funding to make the payments for players which he’d agreed to buy.
“As a result, there was a cash flow crisis which resulted in other clubs not being paid for players that they had sold in good faith.
“The fact that there has been quite a few of these transactions is indicative of the problems which existed at Bramall Lane.
“It’s not a great surprise that the EFL has come down fairly hard in relation to giving a points deduction if Sheffield United are relegated.“
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