Newcastle United may have the so-called richest owners in football, but the Magpies will likely have to trade this summer to generate space, and Nottingham Forest have lambasted the Premier League following their points deduction.
Nottingham Forest have criticised the’model’ that could force ‘aspirant’ clubs such as Newcastle United to trade this summer.
Forest have been relegated after being fined four points for failing to comply with the top flight’s profit and sustainability standards last season. Although relegation rivals Everton received a harsher punishment for a lesser violation, Forest was left’very disappointed’ with the independent commission’s decision.
Forest have argued that the club balanced ‘compliance with PSR with vital investment into the squad to give us the opportunity to compete in the league’. Forest acknowledged that they’missed the PSR reporting deadline’, but a club statement noted that the Reds’made steps’ to sell Brennan Johnson to Spurs in the summer of 2023 as a ‘clear evidence of our respect and support’ for the laws.
“The commission’s decision raises issues of concern for all aspirant clubs,” it read. “The player transfer market is a highly specialised trading environment that cannot be compared to the sale of normal products and services.
“There will be occasions when a player transfer cannot be completed in the first half of a transfer window and can only be completed at the end of that window. This should not be a reason for the condemnation of a club. For this not to be recognised by the commission or the Premier League should be a matter of extreme concern for all fans of our national game.
“Of wider concern for all aspirant clubs is the disturbing effect this decision will have on the operation of the player trading model. This is the only model by which clubs outside of the small group at the very top end of the Premier League can realistically advance up the football pyramid.”
Newcastle have the so-called richest owners in sport, having spent upwards of £400 million to date, but it was ‘impossible’ for the club to conduct any business in January without moving someone on. The club even had to pull out of a loan deal for Kalvin Phillips due to financial constraints, which turned out to be a blessing.
Newcastle would like not to lose a key player this summer, but Darren Eales has stated that ‘if we’re going to go where we want to get to, at times, it’s necessary to trade’ to create headroom. The Newcastle CEO, unprompted, even mentioned how West Ham sold Declan Rice, Liverpool let Philippe Coutinho go, and Aston Villa let Jack Grealish to walk on.
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