Arsenal, Tottenham and Chelsea have all seen the Profit and
Sustainability Regulations (PSR) dominate both the news and their
considerations regarding moves in the January transfer window.
Following the exit of Harry Kane, Spurs have had the freedom
to spend more this winter seeing both Timo Werner and Radu Dragusin arrive
whereas the other two London clubs have made no additions to their senior
squads.
The market has been inflating year after year with Arsenal joining the group of clubs who have bought a player for more than £100million whilst Chelsea managed to sign two in the space of two windows in addition to plenty of others for big sums.
The question of when that might end has
therefore circulated and perhaps the PSR could indeed be the policy which
affects it.
Theoretically, if Premier League sides must work to the
confines of making a loss of no more than £105million across a rolling
three-year period, perhaps the prices of players will begin to fall so that
teams can still operate effectively in the market. It would be in all the
clubs' interests to be able to buy and sell whilst not fearing the possibility
of a points deduction.
This would however have some consequences. Daniel Levy has
spoken openly about the possibility of a potential sale but with the market
value of players dropping this would in turn see Premier League clubs’ own
value also fall as their assets depreciate under the circumstances.
Arsenal and Chelsea meanwhile do not look to be anywhere
close to the process of a sale. Chelsea have only just been bought by Todd
Boehly whilst Stan Kroenke has batted away potential bids and his son and club
co-chairman Josh Kroenke has spoken openly about how they do not need the
money.
Chelsea are considered to be one of the main culprits for the
inflation of the market in the more recent past. Moves for Mykhailo Mudryk,
Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo have all seen clubs use these moves as
reference points when selling their own stars.
It would take an understanding across clubs to therefore see
players' prices drop. This is where the hurdles start to emerge and the
likelihood of player prices dropping begins to fade.
PSR is a Premier League ruling which does not affect clubs
around the world outside of the league. Therefore Serie A, Ligue 1, La Liga and
Bundesliga clubs amongst the other world leagues have no incentive to drop
their top players' prices just because their neighbours have implemented
tighter spending rules.
With Real Madrid and Barcelona very much involved in the
proposals for a rebranded European Super League, they could arguably use this
to their advantage in trying to convince Premier League sides to join. English
clubs have released statements en masse stating their resistance to the Super
League but things can change.
Also, according to reports, Chelsea striker Armando Broja who
has just two goals this league season has a reported asking price of
£50million. If this is anything to go by, it seems that PSR is not having an
impact on the market price of players at present with little-to-no signs
besides a drop in spending this month by Premier League clubs that it will do.
Arsenal will themselves want big money to part ways with
Eddie Nketiah, Emile Smith Rowe and Aaron Ramsdale. Tottenham were always going
to hold out for a massive figure to sell 30-year-old Harry Kane despite his
contract coming to an end shortly.
Whilst the PSR threatens to punish it seemingly is not
threatening enough to get Premier League clubs to bring down the market value.
But things can change.
Source: Arsenal - Football.London
