Premier League action mooted after Aston Villa player exits club
Don Goodman has questioned whether Premier League clubs will now vote for change after Aston Villa loaned Lewis Dobbin to West Brom.
The deal to sign Dobbin from Everton in July, with Tim Iroegbunam going the other way, raised questions due to the circumstances of the transfer.
Villa wasted little time in then loaning the youngster out to West Midlands rivals West Brom for the remainder of the 2024-25 campaign.
Few doubt that the reason behind the move was to circumnavigate PSR, but Goodman insists Villa – and Everton – cannot be blamed for that.
“Some of these fees being paid for academy graduates are way, way over the top,” he told Villa News. “You can’t help but suspect that the principle reason is to help clubs in terms of their finances, and more specifically Profit and Sustainability Rules.
“If that’s a legitimate loophole, then the fault lies with the Premier League. If that’s a loophole that can be exploited, which it has been, then the fault is not with Aston Villa but the clubs that didn’t vote for change.
“I’m really surprised that 14 clubs haven’t lobbied the Premier League to change the boundaries a little bit of this £105million figure you can lose over a three-year period.
“Clearly it’s not working for most of the Premier League clubs, yet they have the power to change it should they desire and may now do that. But whilst loopholes remain available for clubs to make their financial statement strong, why wouldn’t they use that to their advantage?”
Aston Villa smart with Lewis Dobbin deal
Villa have been very smart with their transfer activity this summer, although in an ideal world they could have gone about their business in a different way.
Dobbin was clearly not signed to slot into the first team, so loaning him to a Championship club, where he should start fairly regularly, makes sense for the long term.
There is no denying that the deal with Everton, worth in the region of £9m, was to help balance the books as £10m Iroegbunam went the opposite way.
That money will show as pure profit on the spreadsheets, meaning some reprieve for the Villans. The whole PSR situation, though, is beyond a joke.
Clubs have so far decided against calling for the Premier League to look into the £105m figure, but that will surely change before too long. Until then, teams cannot be blamed for doing what they have to to avoid breaching rules.
In other Aston Villa news, a player has been hailed by Joe Hart for what he did in the win over West Ham United.
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