Premier League’s legal team send transfer email to Newcastle, Everton and rivals

The Premier League have written to all 20 top-flight clubs to remind them of their rules regarding the fair valuation of players.

ChronicleLive understands the email was sent after a number of top-flight clubs asked for clarity and clarification on the regulations following a flurry of domestic transfers in the run-up to the end of the financial year. Aston Villa signed Lewis Dobbin from Everton just 24 hours after midfielder Tim Iroegbunam moved in the opposite direction for a similar fee of around £9m. Another highly-rated Villa academy graduate, Omari Kellyman, is close to completing a £19m move to Chelsea, who are set to let Ian Maatsen join Villa for £37.5m.

Such mutually beneficial deals will secure pure profit for these clubs before Sunday, which is the cut-off point for the current financial year and PSR cycle, while the buying club can spread the transfer fee over five years given that the new arrivals will all be handed long-term deals.

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It is important to stress there has been no suggestion that any rules have been broken and, from a Newcastle United perspective, it is worth noting that the Magpies pulled out of a move for Everton striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin on account of the Toffees’ huge asking price despite Sean Dyche’s team holding a strong interest in Yankuba Minteh.

However, the Premier League’s legal team have still made it clear in their letter to all 20 sides that ‘a scenario where a selling club has received an inflated transfer fee for a player in a transaction not considered to be conducted at arm’s length, the selling club would be required to return the amount in excess of fair market value back to the buying club’.

The term ‘arm’s length’ refers to how the terms and conditions of the transaction should not differ from the terms and conditions that ‘would have applied between independent persons in comparable transactions carried out under comparable circumstances’. The Premier League’s rulebook states that there should be ‘no risk of any possible relationship of material influence existing between the club, a director of the club and/or an entity in the same group of companies as the club as its contracting counterparty’.

The Premier League have reiterated to clubs that they could be ‘requested to provide information and evidence to assist determination of whether the transaction should be considered as being conducted at arm’s length’. Rule B15 of the handbook outlines how that in all matters and transactions relating to the league, each club, official and director ‘shall behave towards each other club, official, director and the league with the utmost good faith’.

If a deal is found not to have been conducted at arm’s length, the Premier League’s legal team said in their email to clubs that a fair market value assessment of the transfer to ‘determine the value the transaction can be approved at will take place’.

The Premier League list 18 factors in their handbook that the the independent fair market value assessor must consider, such as the player’s age and position; his record, experience and statistics; his injury history; his brand value and fan base, including his social media following; the scarcity within the market for players with similar characteristics; the competition for his signature; and the financial state and relative bargaining position of the clubs involved.

If the board finds that the transfer is not at fair market value, the Premier League informed clubs that the board will ‘require that the value be restated’.