“Profit over passion”: Is the PSR rule killing the soul of football?

The PSR rule is slowly poisoning the competitive nature of the Premier League. (Image credits - FMT, License Details)

Newcastle United and Aston Villa fans recently took a united stand against their common enemy – the Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) of the Premier League, which was seen in their opening game of the season.

Aston Villa were recently forced to let go of Jacob Ramsey, who secured a move to Newcastle United, to attain a pure financial profit deal, as the talented midfielder is a product of their own academy system.

Villa skipper John McGinn was seen publicly defending Ramsey after his move to St James' was confirmed while expressing his disappointment over the club's decision to sell an academy graduate for pure profit purposes, stating, "Seems to be the way football is set up these days." (sic)

Newcastle fans definitely share and understand the pain Villa Park is feeling right now to see one of their very own leave due to the incompetence of the league's rules. Last season, the Magpies, in a similar case, were forced to sell Elliot Anderson to Nottingham Forest to comply with the Premier League's PSR rules.

As per the PSR guidelines, homegrown academy players produce pure profit on sale, which benefits the clubs by balancing their financial sheets but leaves them with an imbalanced trading history, making them vulnerable to losing out on young talents. 

"It's absolutely awful from a footballing perspective. I can understand the frustration of fans. They have a special bond,” said football finance expert Kieran Maguire.

Advantage to the Premier League "big six"?: How are the big clubs preventing PSR breaches?

It has led us to question the credibility of the Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR), as it appears to not have been affecting the financially bigger clubs like Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea or Manchester United, who have had multiple major spending sprees over the last few years.

As reported by BBC Sport, these above-mentioned clubs have spent more in just wages than Newcastle United's total revenue generated. Aston Villa, on the other hand, had an even better wage-to-turnover ratio than Newcastle but were still sanctioned for breaching financial rules by UEFA.

So what is saving these big clubs from the grasp of the PSR rules? Well, the financially superior clubs are in a better position for a reason: they generate huge revenue via participating in European competitions, major cash inflow due to multiple sponsorship deals and securing much greater merchandise sales globally.

Meanwhile, clubs like Newcastle, Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa, Burnley, etc. don't have the muscle to sell that much worth of merchandise or secure huge sponsorship deals, which makes it very difficult for them to balance out losses.

Therefore, while the highest spenders in the league do spend a lot, they earn even more via multiple assets globally, which helps them stay sustainable in the PSR books. Financially weaker clubs fall into trouble when they make any big money signing, which heavily disbalances their financial sheets, leading to breaches and charges.