Stefan Borson: PL could investigate inflated Newcastle & Nottingham Forest deals

Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest’s deals for Odysseas Vlachodimos and Elliot Anderson are likely to be assessed over fair value by the Premier League.

That is the view of finance expert Stefan Borson, who exclusively told Football Insider the price of the Vlachodimos deal appears to have been “inflated”.

Vlachodimos joined Newcastle from Forest hours before the 2023/24 accounting deadline on 30 June, while Anderson made the move in the opposite direction that very same day.

The Athletic reported on 21 July Nuno Espirito Santo’s side paid £35million to secure Anderson’s signature and Vlachodimos’s move to St James’ Park was worth around £20million.

Both Premier League sides were believed to be close to the profit and sustainability (PSR) limit last season, with a breach likely carrying the penalty of a points deduction.

The top-flight duo are expected to have met the PSR rules provided the fees for their last-gasp sales are approved by the governing body.

Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest to face questions over deals

But Borson expects the Premier League to be “very focused” on whether both of those deals were done at fair value.

He told Football Insider: “If that article is true, I think it’s very likely that swap deal is going to be one that’s going to have quite a lot of focus.

“It was reported that the Elliot Anderson move was £35million move and people said it sounds like a lot of money, but he’s a young player and we’ve seen those deals done before.

“Then The Athletic have reported that the deal was £35million, but Vlachodimos, who was bought last summer, played five games and appeared to largely be a failed signing, has apparently been sold for £20million as part of that transaction.

“That’s something that doesn’t straight away pass the sniff test if all of that is true. We have got no idea because we don’t see those numbers at this point.

“But if it is true what’s been written, I would expect that is one of the deals the Premier League is very focused on in terms of considering whether it’s been done at the correct value.

“On the face of it, those prices do look inflated. The bottom line is, what are they going to do with Vlachodimos because he’s not the first-team goalkeeper? They are talking about signing another goalkeeper on top of that.

“If they were just trying to sell the player now, I don’t think anyone would suggest that any third party that wasn’t involved in a swap deal would pay £20million for him.

“He barely played for Nottingham Forest. Which club are going to pay £20million for him outside of a swap deal? There is your answer to an extent.

“If it’s true, I would say that strongly suggests that the value was inflated in some way.”

In other news, Newcastle could now accept bids for attacker.

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The post Stefan Borson: PL could investigate inflated Newcastle & Nottingham Forest deals appeared first on Football Insider.