PSR Loopholes, Multi-Club Deals, and a Broken System: Why West Ham Are Lagging

There is a growing disillusionment with Premier League football. The rules and regulations seem to be constantly challenged—and often bypassed—by elite clubs who only continue to get stronger.

The loopholes EPL clubs exploit to avoid breaching the Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) are astonishing.

This includes shifting the accounting year-end to 30th June. Following a top-flight meeting on 4th June, clubs also secured the continued ability to sell assets—such as hotels and women’s teams—to affiliated companies, with these sales counted in their PSR calculations.

Then there’s multi-club ownership, which allows teams to trade players internally—restricting transfers to outside clubs. The Premier League claims to monitor this, ensuring transfers are conducted at “fair value,” yet it doesn’t stop deals from happening.

Take Eli Junior Kroupi, a long-term West Ham target, who joined Bournemouth for £10m from Lorient—both clubs owned by Black Knight Football Entertainment Group. Reports suggest the Hammers had bid more.

This summer, Mamadou Sarr is set to join Chelsea from Strasbourg, a club owned by BlueCo. Ismael Doucouré is expected to follow, and a pre-agreement is rumoured for Emmanuel Emegha—a striker West Ham were linked with earlier this year.

While multi-club ownership raises issues in European competition, the workaround is simple: temporarily transfer the club to an independent entity—such as a blind trust—which “safeguards” independence while keeping control within reach.

West Ham data drive could prove futile

Regardless of West Ham targeting young players through data-driven analysis—an approach now widely used across the Premier League—the bigger clubs still hold the upper hand.

Take Ardon Jashari, a 19-year-old at Club Brugge. Despite West Ham’s interest, he’s likely to join Manchester City.

City also benefit from snapping up top academy talent—raiding clubs like West Ham for players such as Divin Mubama—potentially selling them on for huge profits. The same goes for former Hammers prospects Divine Mukasa and Xavier Parker.

All this leaves West Ham in a tricky position, forced to rely on loan players from the likes of Arsenal, City or Chelsea—as their squads overflow with talent.

While fans might not want West Ham to become a “nursery club” for Premier League giants, it might be the most realistic short-term option, allowing for squad depth without major financial outlay.

Perhaps the most baffling part of all this is the inconsistency in how PSR breaches are punished. Everton and Nottingham Forest have both suffered points deductions, while Manchester City—who face 115 charges—are still awaiting judgement.

City strongly deny any wrongdoing and have reportedly already won a legal battle around sponsorship rules from 2021 to 2024, with a tribunal ruling that the original Associated Party Transactions (APT) rules were “void and unenforceable.”

Meanwhile, they continue to spend—£46.3m on Tijjani Reijnders, £50m on Rayan Aït-Nouri, and possibly £20m on Rayan Cherki from Lyon.

Chelsea and City will soon fly off to the Club World Cup, where up to £95m in prize money is on offer. PSG, by contrast, earned a whopping £70.8m for winning the Champions League.

When C&H approached a senior West Ham source for their thoughts, we were told: “We have no related companies interested in buying assets.”
The source reaffirmed the view on fair value, adding:
“You can only go on to sell what is seen as a real price, not an inflated price.”

It’s worth noting that West Ham took over the running of its Women’s team in 2016, with Baroness Karren Brady appointed to the board of directors, alongside Tara Warren and Nicola Keye.

But there’s no doubt: the landscape is becoming increasingly difficult to navigate. Daniel Křetínský, David Sullivan and the rest of the board would do well to invest in top-tier legal teams and reassess the club’s strategy for competing in this new financial and regulatory era.