According to Football Insider, the Premier League will likely investigate Odysseas Vlachodimos’ deal to Newcastle United to see if its value was inflated.
Vlachodimos, 30, joined Newcastle from Nottingham Forest just hours before the 2023/24 accounting deadline on June 30, while homegrown player Elliot Anderson, 21, moved in the opposite direction on the same day.
According to The Athletic, Forest paid £35 million for Anderson, while Vlachodimos’ move to St James’ Park cost roughly £20 million.
Last season, both Premier League teams were thought to be approaching the profit and sustainability (PSR) limit, with a breach likely resulting in a points deduction.
The top-tier duo are expected to have followed the PSR regulations if the costs for their last-ditch sales are authorized by the regulating body.
However, sources have told Football Insider that the price of the Vlachodimos trade appears to be “inflated,” and the Premier League will be “very focused” on the deal’s value if £20 million is right.
Newcastle and Nottingham Forest are fighting about the worth of the move.
The Greece international joined Forest in a £7.7 million deal from Portuguese club Benfica last summer.
However, after starting only five Premier League games for the club, all of which occurred in November and December of last year, the goalkeeper was not picked to any of the matchday squads for the remaining 15 games of the season.
According to Football Insider, Forest and Newcastle would struggle to establish that another club would have paid £20 million for Vlachodimos if the sale did not involve a swap arrangement.
On June 28, The Athletic reported that the Premier League has written to all 20 top-flight clubs to remind them of the “good faith” criteria for transactions before the accounting deadline.
The governing body emphasized that it has the authority to request the return of a transfer fee to the buying club if it believes the transaction was “not conducted at arm’s length.”
Forest and Newcastle were among numerous Premier League clubs involved in a rush of last-minute sales before the deadline.
Orel Mangala completed his £15 million transfer from the City Ground to Lyon, while Moussa Niakhate joined the French club for £27 million.
Yankuba Minteh, meanwhile, moved from Newcastle to Brighton for £30 million, while a compensation sum was arranged with Manchester United for sports director Dan Ashworth to keep the club inside the £105 million PSR maximum over a rolling three-year period.
