As the end of the 2024-25 accounting period for 15 of next season’s Premier League clubs approaches, a new report has revealed which are most and least at risk of Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) breaches.
The PSR limits clubs to a maximum loss of £105million over a three-year rolling period, with certain expenditures - such as, investments in youth development, women's football and infrastructure - excluded from this calculation.
The big day has already passed for Arsenal, Liverpool, West Ham, Sunderland and Burnley, whose accounting periods ended on May 31.
PSR has become an increasingly significant topic of discussion as of late, due to the potential serious repercussions of breaching the rules.
For example, Everton infamously received two separate points deductions last season for overspending in the three-year period between 2020-21 and 2022-23.
And as judgement day arrives for Premier League clubs again this year, The Athletic have estimated how much each team can afford to suffer in pre-tax losses between now until their accounting period deadline.
Two further things must be noted. Firstly, clubs' PSR calculations are not public information, meaning these estimations are not infallible.
And, secondly, these are certainly not estimates of how much each club can afford to splash in the transfer window, rather an indication of how much headway they have in pre-tax losses.
After crunching the numbers, the report judges how close each team is to breaching their respective acceptable thresholds, considering their spending across the season.
For example, Brighton could afford to lose up to £295m in 2024-25, meaning they are ranked as safe.
However, Aston Villa could only incur pre-tax losses of £15m last season, which restricted them to a tight margin, putting them at risk of PSR breaches.
Meanwhile, Newcastle, Leeds, Everton and Burnley are all classed in the 'should be fine' tier, the latter of which are the only team that need to register a profit (£20m).
Shockingly, Chelsea - who have splashed over £1billion on a glut of new players since Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital's arrival in May 2022 - were ranked as the most safe.
The west London club can register losses of up to £300m from the 2024-25 season and be safe from PSR breaches.
The Blues capitalised on a loophole within the PSR by selling assets, including their women's team and two hotels, to their sister company - BlueCo. These transactions, conducted at fair market value rather than an inflated sale, enabled Chelsea to record significant profits and comply with PSR rules.
The Premier League's 20 clubs previously opted not to close this loophole allowing teams to generate extra income.
As for the rest of the 'Big Six', Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Tottenham and Liverpool were also all ranked as 'safe'.
Ironically, it was these clubs - specifically United, City and Chelsea - who spearheaded a challenge against the PSR, along with Villa and Newcastle.
Premier League clubs voted in April 2024 for some form of a spending cap to replace PSR for the 2025-26 season.
However, in February 2025, these plans were delayed. The proposal was to introduce a new Squad Cost Ratio limiting clubs to spending 85 per cent of their revenue on player wages, transfers and agent fees.
A system, known as anchoring, had also been provisionally approved by clubs last year and was expected to be introduced for next season.
But clubs have delayed its introduction for a further year, with the existing rules set to remain in place next season.