I've had to split this into sections.
As the season concludes, many fans will be turning their attention of the ability of the club they support to spend money in the transfer market this summer.
We have seen clubs being restricted in recent summers in terms of player recruitment due to the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR). These allow clubs to lose £105 million over three years, although this is reduced by £22 million for every season they were not in the Premier League over the assessment period. Certain expenses, such as infrastructure, academy, community and women’s team, are excluded from the PSR calculations.
It should be noted that just because clubs can spend in terms of PSR headroom, there’s a separate issue in terms of whether they have access to enough cash to pay for the instalments.
In the most recent financial statements that dealt with the 2023/24 season there was a huge range in the results between the most profitable and biggest loss-making clubs.
The estimates contain assumptions about each club’s financial performances for the current season 2024/25, and also historic PSR allowances.
Football clubs have financial year ends that have to be between 31 May to 31 July, with the vast majority choosing 30 June, reflecting when player contracts expire.
It was very noticeable that there were effectively two transfer windows in the summer of 2024, one which applied to those clubs under PSR pressure and therefore had to sell before 30 June, and then the formal window ending 1st September 2025.
We have graded each club 1-4 in terms of its ability to spend significant sums this summer in the transfer market, with 1 being in a strong position to 4 being challenging.
Arsenal: 1
Whilst 2024/25 will go down as a bridesmaid year for Arsenal, with two eliminations in cup semi-finals and a runners up in the Premier League, the club is in a strong financial position for recruitment purposes.
Its record revenues of £616 million in 2023/24 are likely to be exceeded in 2024/25 due to the expanded Champions League format, which brought in more UEFA broadcast revenue and seven home matches at The Emirates stadium.
Arsenal has accounting losses of £70 million in the two seasons to 30 June 2024. The sales of Emile Smith Rowe and Eddie Nketiah in the current season will generate pure profits of about £50m as both players are from Arsenal’s academy. Add back estimated infrastructure costs of a further £50m, a similar amount for the academy itself and Arsenal are looking at a small estimated PSR profit over the three-year assessment period.
Arsenal can therefore easily spend as much as their owners choose to allow without any PSR pressures.
Arsenal is the most profitable club in Premier League history and will be able to reap the benefits of this prudent strategy over the summer, so if a striker is not signed it cannot be blamed on PSR.
Aston Villa: 3/4
Villa’s owners Nas Sawiris, Wes Edens and Atairos have backed managers in the transfer market in recent season. The club lost £206 million in the two years to 30 June 2024, although these losses can be mitigated by PSR allowances. The sale of Jack Grealish in
2021 will have dropped out of Villa’s PSR figures for the current season and this will have made things more complex for the club.
Qualifying for the Champions League in 2024/25 has boosted revenues by over £100 million as Villa reached the quarter finals, as well as the sales of Duran, Diaby, Lui and others.
However, Villa have spent over £900 million since returning to the Premier League in 2019 and since then have exceeded UEFA’s guideline of spending no more than 70% of revenues on wages every season.
Failure to qualify for the Champions League for 2025/26 will have increased the pressure on Villa to balance the books, so the exit door may have to be used as much as the entry one over the summer.
Bournemouth 2
Bournemouth have spent eight years out of the last ten in the Premier League and have quietly established themselves as one of the middle-class clubs of the division.
Bournemouth were in danger of exceeding PSR limits in 2023 but were able to treat a £71 million loan write off from former owner Maxim Demin as being an adjusting expense.
The sales of Dominic Solanke and Dean Huijsen in the current financial year mean that Bournemouth are likely to book far lower losses in 2024/25 than the £66 million they generated the previous season.
Bournemouth have the lowest matchday revenues due to the capacity of the Vitality Stadium, but smart spending in recent years has meant that this has not prevented the club from being successful in the transfer market.
Brentford: 1
Arguably the best run business in the Premier League, Brentford made an overall small profit in the last two years, and the sale of Ivan Toney last summer will have generated a significant gain for the club. Its approach of player recruitment in terms of spotting players that other clubs have not considered such as Bryan Mbeumo and Yohan Wissa is likely to pay further dividends this summer as they are attracting attention from clubs with bigger budgets.
As a consequence, Brentford have no PSR concerns but are unlikely to break the bank for the sake of it as this is not the way that owner Matthrew Benham likes to do business. Brentford fans have total faith in the owner so even if star players leave the Gtech Stadium over the summer they are confident they will be successfully replaced.
Brighton 1
Brighton have made an accounting profit of over £200 million in the last two seasons, mainly driven by player sales, so their PSR profits will be at least £50 million higher.
They are also one of the pioneers of using and understanding data analytics for recruitment purposes, signing the likes of Cucurella, Caicedo and Mac Allister in the process who have left for far higher fees than paid by the club.
Brighton spent big by their standards in 2024/25, but chief executive Paul Barber has already indicated that the club will more likely return to its tried and tested model of recruiting relatively unheard players from unfamiliar markets this summer.
Brighton’s biggest challenge is more likely to be preventing bigger clubs from taking the likes of Pedro, Baleba and Mitoma, although Brighton have probably lined up replacements as they do for players in all positions.
Burnley 2
Because Burnley have spent two years out of the last three in the Championship, the club’s PSR loss is limited to £61 million. This may mean that Burnley have to be a slightly cautious in the summer in terms of recruitment. Burnley spent more money signing players in 2022/23 when in the Championship than in any season when they have been in the Premier League, so the club’s transfer strategy is likely to be modest by choice as much as necessity.
Chelsea 1 or 4
Chelsea’s ability to spend big in the transfer market may be determined by the Premier League’s response to the sale of the women’s team in 2024 which generated a £199 million profit. If this is accepted by the Premier League, then Chelsea would have significant flexibility in terms of what they can spend. If the profit is excluded, then things will be far more challenging, and they may have to sell before they can buy.
Chelsea has the most expensive squad in the world, costing over £1.4 billion to assemble. They are also the club with the highest profits from player sales, which shows the club’s success at generating cash from playing inventory.
Champions League qualification justifies the huge investment in the young squad on very long contracts. Participation in the FIFA Club World Cup in summer 2025 is worth at least $50 million which will make up for the lack of a front shirt sponsor for most of the last season.
Crystal Palace 2
Crystal Palace will not have made much money from winning the FA Cup as the prize is just £2 million, which does not move the dial even for a small club, but the memories are priceless. European football next season will probably necessitate an expansion in the squad to allow the club to deal with the demands of Sunday-Thursday-Sunday football.
The good news for Palace is that the sales of Micheal Olise and others in recent windows has reversed a relatively poor player sale strategy. Combined with losses being under control for many years Palace can spend with relatively few worries this summer.
The club will be more concerned about keeping hold of players who have performed superbly in 2024/25 such as Maheta, Wharton, Guehi and Eze. New contracts for any of these would be just as important as new recruits.
Everton 3
Everton are still paying the price for a haphazard and expansionary transfer policy under former owner Farhad Moshiri which will take time to unravel as contracts expire over the next few years.
The points deduction that was incurred as a result of the PSR breach following the spending spree has led to wages flatlining in recent years, partly out of necessity and partly due to the former owner reducing financial support for the club.
New owners the Friedkin Group will therefore have to spend smart rather than big as Everton move into the new stadium at Bramley Moor Dock. One marquee signing this summer is certainly possible, especially with some players out of contract, but the chances of a series of big name and big money incomings is less likely.
As the season concludes, many fans will be turning their attention of the ability of the club they support to spend money in the transfer market this summer.
We have seen clubs being restricted in recent summers in terms of player recruitment due to the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR). These allow clubs to lose £105 million over three years, although this is reduced by £22 million for every season they were not in the Premier League over the assessment period. Certain expenses, such as infrastructure, academy, community and women’s team, are excluded from the PSR calculations.
It should be noted that just because clubs can spend in terms of PSR headroom, there’s a separate issue in terms of whether they have access to enough cash to pay for the instalments.
In the most recent financial statements that dealt with the 2023/24 season there was a huge range in the results between the most profitable and biggest loss-making clubs.
The estimates contain assumptions about each club’s financial performances for the current season 2024/25, and also historic PSR allowances.
Football clubs have financial year ends that have to be between 31 May to 31 July, with the vast majority choosing 30 June, reflecting when player contracts expire.
It was very noticeable that there were effectively two transfer windows in the summer of 2024, one which applied to those clubs under PSR pressure and therefore had to sell before 30 June, and then the formal window ending 1st September 2025.
We have graded each club 1-4 in terms of its ability to spend significant sums this summer in the transfer market, with 1 being in a strong position to 4 being challenging.
Arsenal: 1
Whilst 2024/25 will go down as a bridesmaid year for Arsenal, with two eliminations in cup semi-finals and a runners up in the Premier League, the club is in a strong financial position for recruitment purposes.
Its record revenues of £616 million in 2023/24 are likely to be exceeded in 2024/25 due to the expanded Champions League format, which brought in more UEFA broadcast revenue and seven home matches at The Emirates stadium.
Arsenal has accounting losses of £70 million in the two seasons to 30 June 2024. The sales of Emile Smith Rowe and Eddie Nketiah in the current season will generate pure profits of about £50m as both players are from Arsenal’s academy. Add back estimated infrastructure costs of a further £50m, a similar amount for the academy itself and Arsenal are looking at a small estimated PSR profit over the three-year assessment period.
Arsenal can therefore easily spend as much as their owners choose to allow without any PSR pressures.
Arsenal is the most profitable club in Premier League history and will be able to reap the benefits of this prudent strategy over the summer, so if a striker is not signed it cannot be blamed on PSR.
Aston Villa: 3/4
Villa’s owners Nas Sawiris, Wes Edens and Atairos have backed managers in the transfer market in recent season. The club lost £206 million in the two years to 30 June 2024, although these losses can be mitigated by PSR allowances. The sale of Jack Grealish in
2021 will have dropped out of Villa’s PSR figures for the current season and this will have made things more complex for the club.
Qualifying for the Champions League in 2024/25 has boosted revenues by over £100 million as Villa reached the quarter finals, as well as the sales of Duran, Diaby, Lui and others.
However, Villa have spent over £900 million since returning to the Premier League in 2019 and since then have exceeded UEFA’s guideline of spending no more than 70% of revenues on wages every season.
Failure to qualify for the Champions League for 2025/26 will have increased the pressure on Villa to balance the books, so the exit door may have to be used as much as the entry one over the summer.
Bournemouth 2
Bournemouth have spent eight years out of the last ten in the Premier League and have quietly established themselves as one of the middle-class clubs of the division.
Bournemouth were in danger of exceeding PSR limits in 2023 but were able to treat a £71 million loan write off from former owner Maxim Demin as being an adjusting expense.
The sales of Dominic Solanke and Dean Huijsen in the current financial year mean that Bournemouth are likely to book far lower losses in 2024/25 than the £66 million they generated the previous season.
Bournemouth have the lowest matchday revenues due to the capacity of the Vitality Stadium, but smart spending in recent years has meant that this has not prevented the club from being successful in the transfer market.
Brentford: 1
Arguably the best run business in the Premier League, Brentford made an overall small profit in the last two years, and the sale of Ivan Toney last summer will have generated a significant gain for the club. Its approach of player recruitment in terms of spotting players that other clubs have not considered such as Bryan Mbeumo and Yohan Wissa is likely to pay further dividends this summer as they are attracting attention from clubs with bigger budgets.
As a consequence, Brentford have no PSR concerns but are unlikely to break the bank for the sake of it as this is not the way that owner Matthrew Benham likes to do business. Brentford fans have total faith in the owner so even if star players leave the Gtech Stadium over the summer they are confident they will be successfully replaced.
Brighton 1
Brighton have made an accounting profit of over £200 million in the last two seasons, mainly driven by player sales, so their PSR profits will be at least £50 million higher.
They are also one of the pioneers of using and understanding data analytics for recruitment purposes, signing the likes of Cucurella, Caicedo and Mac Allister in the process who have left for far higher fees than paid by the club.
Brighton spent big by their standards in 2024/25, but chief executive Paul Barber has already indicated that the club will more likely return to its tried and tested model of recruiting relatively unheard players from unfamiliar markets this summer.
Brighton’s biggest challenge is more likely to be preventing bigger clubs from taking the likes of Pedro, Baleba and Mitoma, although Brighton have probably lined up replacements as they do for players in all positions.
Burnley 2
Because Burnley have spent two years out of the last three in the Championship, the club’s PSR loss is limited to £61 million. This may mean that Burnley have to be a slightly cautious in the summer in terms of recruitment. Burnley spent more money signing players in 2022/23 when in the Championship than in any season when they have been in the Premier League, so the club’s transfer strategy is likely to be modest by choice as much as necessity.
Chelsea 1 or 4
Chelsea’s ability to spend big in the transfer market may be determined by the Premier League’s response to the sale of the women’s team in 2024 which generated a £199 million profit. If this is accepted by the Premier League, then Chelsea would have significant flexibility in terms of what they can spend. If the profit is excluded, then things will be far more challenging, and they may have to sell before they can buy.
Chelsea has the most expensive squad in the world, costing over £1.4 billion to assemble. They are also the club with the highest profits from player sales, which shows the club’s success at generating cash from playing inventory.
Champions League qualification justifies the huge investment in the young squad on very long contracts. Participation in the FIFA Club World Cup in summer 2025 is worth at least $50 million which will make up for the lack of a front shirt sponsor for most of the last season.
Crystal Palace 2
Crystal Palace will not have made much money from winning the FA Cup as the prize is just £2 million, which does not move the dial even for a small club, but the memories are priceless. European football next season will probably necessitate an expansion in the squad to allow the club to deal with the demands of Sunday-Thursday-Sunday football.
The good news for Palace is that the sales of Micheal Olise and others in recent windows has reversed a relatively poor player sale strategy. Combined with losses being under control for many years Palace can spend with relatively few worries this summer.
The club will be more concerned about keeping hold of players who have performed superbly in 2024/25 such as Maheta, Wharton, Guehi and Eze. New contracts for any of these would be just as important as new recruits.
Everton 3
Everton are still paying the price for a haphazard and expansionary transfer policy under former owner Farhad Moshiri which will take time to unravel as contracts expire over the next few years.
The points deduction that was incurred as a result of the PSR breach following the spending spree has led to wages flatlining in recent years, partly out of necessity and partly due to the former owner reducing financial support for the club.
New owners the Friedkin Group will therefore have to spend smart rather than big as Everton move into the new stadium at Bramley Moor Dock. One marquee signing this summer is certainly possible, especially with some players out of contract, but the chances of a series of big name and big money incomings is less likely.
