Newcastle to face scrutiny over ‘very expensive deal’ to avoid points deduction

Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest are set to come under scrutiny for their summer transfer of Oydsseas Vlachodimos, according to football finance expert Stefan Borson. 

The Magpies made Vlachodimos their most expensive-ever goalkeeper when they signed him from Forest for £20m.

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However, the move was always going to raise eyebrows given Nick Pope’s status as No.1, while Martin Dubravka is a strong back-up option.

Indeed, Vlachodimos is yet to even be named in a competitive matchday squad by Eddie Howe, with his only minutes in a Newcastle shirt so far coming in the second half of a 1-0 pre-season friendly win over French side Brest.

While technically separate deals, Vlachodimos’ transfer was always thought to be linked with the move of Elliot Anderson in the opposite direction for a hefty £35m fee (via Sky Sports) as Newcastle and Nottingham Forest battled to stay compliant with Premier League Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR).

Newcastle and Forest to come under ‘scrutiny’?

Football finance expert Borson believes the bizarre nature of Vlachodimos’ deal means it may well come under ‘scrutiny’ from the Premier League, which could spell bad news for both Newcastle and Forest.

“It’s a deal that’s going to have some scrutiny because it seems to make very little sense,” Borson told Football Insider. “It’s a very expensive deal just to get around PSR, which it does seem to be.

“I guess they could say that it wasn’t, but with the way that it’s portrayed in that Athletic piece, it does seem that the sole purpose of the deal was to get around PSR.

“In that circumstance, you would think the Premier League are going to have a look at it.

“We are all basing it off reporting. I have not got any inside information in terms of what went on there, but the reporting is quite interesting.

“The style of the reporting is not speculating. They clearly have been told some pretty specific stuff about the deal, so I think we can take it that the deal was at £20m and was related to PSR.

“Once you have got those two things in place, then the Premier League are bound to have a look at it.

“I’m not saying they are going to investigate it, I’m just saying that they are bound to ask some questions.

“They may have asked those questions and could already be happy with it, we don’t know.”

Top photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images

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