The Financial Fair Play Act "tightens" the wallet, and the Premier League is destined to be cold this winter window

The reporter reported coldly The winter market in global football has begun, and judging from the current situation, this year's transfer market will usher in another "cold winter". The Premier League, which has always been the market leader, is ready to tighten its wallet in the first place.

In the summer window last year, the Premier League invested 2.33 billion euros, which is equivalent to the sum of Serie A, Ligue 1 and Bundesliga, continuing the huge advantage of three summer windows to lead the four major European leagues. However, due to the strong constraints of the Premier League's Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) and the Squad Cost Rules (SCR) and Anchoring Rules (TBA) that have been piloted since the beginning of this season, Premier League executives and club managers have warned that the Premier League transfer market will fundamentally change, and the winter window is likely to face an unexpected depression.

The British media interviewed many senior executives of Premier League clubs, and what they got was a disappointing consensus. There are even Premier League executives who believe that world football has not yet realised what the strong constraints of the Financial Fair Play Act mean for the Premier League, with one transfer agent commenting: "Last winter window was the quietest month we have ever seen, and I am sure most expect this year to be the same, if not even more so." Investment in transfers is bound to fall, and clubs will have to reduce their spending to prioritise meeting the requirements of the Financial Fair Play Act. But they want to sell players at a high price for a profit, but no one can afford such a price. ”

The Premier League is on the verge of a full review of 20 clubs for breaches of PSR rules, casting a shadow over club owners in the January Premier League winter window. Everton and Nottingham Forest were deducted points for breaches last season, and Newcastle United were just 48 hours away from being deducted last summer when they sold newcomers Minter and Anderson before the deadline to avoid as many as 10 penalty points. Manchester City have been charged with 115 breaches and are still awaiting sentencing. Now Leicester City could be the new penalty and they will know their fate on 13 January. Even giants like Manchester United, who have a huge amount of revenue, do not dare to invest huge sums of money in the winter market for fear of violating the law. "Every club is worried about PSR and no one wants to be deducted points," said the agent. ”

In the 2023 winter window, the investment in the Premier League was as high as 849 million euros, but last year's winter window plummeted to 137 million, a drop of 83.9%. Everton had just been penalised and City's allegations were exposed, and the Premier League clubs reacted with their wallets tightened in the winter window. The Premier League passed a new Financial Fair Play Act last summer, which will come into force by 2025/26 at the latest. The Premier League, while still far ahead of Europe's top four leagues, is down 16.5% from the summer of 2023. The desertion of two consecutive winter windows is actually a continuation of the cautious actions of Premier League clubs.

The winter window is now a "small market" for the Premier League to adjust locally based on the first half of the season and injuries. Even so, the Premier League's winter window is still the most expensive and active transfer window for players in the five major leagues. Last year's winter window was already the second-lowest investment in the Premier League since 2013, only higher than the 2021 winter window, which suffered heavy losses due to the pandemic and saw clubs' spending on recruitment plummet. Premier League clubs are scrutinizing their finances for compliance with the PSR rules this winter, rather than sifting through targets as they have done in the past, and the market will naturally continue to be cold last winter.

Manchester City and Manchester United are both two giants with a strong desire to bring in reinforcements. However, United's new boss Amorim has been told that he will not be able to bring in reinforcements in the winter window unless he sells his players first to cash in. Manchester United, who lost £113 million last season and another £6.8 million in the first quarter of this season, will have to be busy selling Victor Lindelof, Christian Eriksen, Antony, Marcus Rashford and even Zilkzee before they consider bringing in centre-forward Osimhen and much-needed midfielders and defenders after the market has recouped the funds. The same can be said of clubs such as Aston Villa, Newcastle United and Chelsea, with Chelsea even selling two hotels and a women's football team to raise £250 million before they could bring in reinforcements in the winter window.

Manchester City, which has invested a lot of money in this winter window, is facing 115 accusations of violations, which is somewhat undaring. Pep Guardiola has been forced to lower his expectations for the winter window, ditching the expensive duo of Guimarães and Suvemendi in favour of Uzbek defender Kusanov in Ligue 1 for Lens, who is worth just €20 million, one-third of the previous two.

Under such a "cold background", not only did the traditional top six of the Premier League who occasionally introduced individual high-priced new signings in the winter window dare not make a move, but the teams in the relegation zone who have traditionally frantically recruited in the winter window have to give priority to the compliance of the PSR rules. Leicester City, who are struggling for relegation, are about to follow in the footsteps of Everton and Nottingham Forest, and the willingness of the entire Premier League to invest in the winter window can be imagined.