Premier League owner makes points deductions claim after Newcastle 'background noise'

Ciaran Kelly

4 July 2024 at 2:41 am·1-min read

Brighton owner Tony Bloom has claimed it would be 'much better' if clubs did not force the Premier League to hand out 'punishments' following Newcastle United's rush to comply with PSR.

Newcastle frantically scrambled to raise funds in a bid to avoid a potential points deduction for failing to comply with the top-flight's financial rules last weekend. Newcastle sold Yankuba Minteh to Brighton for £33m and also let Elliot Anderson join Nottingham Forest for £35m.

Brighton, in contrast, who have different aspirations, did not have such concerns. Brighton announced a profit of £122.8m in their most recently published accounts, which was a record for an English club, and that sum did not include the £140m sales of Moises Caicedo and Robert Sanchez to Chelsea, which came in the 23-24 season.

Those healthy accounts enabled Brighton to make a late move for Minteh before the June 30 cut-off point, but Bloom dismissed the 11th-hour deals done by clubs such as Newcastle to avoid sanctions as 'background noise' even though the Seagulls ultimately benefited.

"I don’t like the idea of having points deductions mid-season," he said. "It would be much better if clubs didn’t put the Premier League in the position where they have to hand out punishments."

Bloom's comments come after Brighton CEO Paul Barber previously said it would be 'bizarre' if Premier League clubs were permitted to make greater losses over a rolling three-year period despite the current £105m figure not rising in line with inflation since it was first introduced more than a decade ago.