Big PSR decision that could impact Aston Villa and Wolves' transfer spending set to be made

The Premier League's PSR rules have increasingly come under fire from a number of top flight clubs in recent years, having originally been introduced in the 2015/16 season to prevent overspending.

The rules allow losses of £105m over a three year reporting cycle - but in recent years there have been a number of high profile cases where clubs have gone over the limit.

Everton and Nottingham Forest were both hit with sanctions, while the rules have also impacted other club's abilities' in the transfer market. In past campaigns, Wolves have had to move players on to comply with the rules - while Aston Villa have had to sell players in the transfer market to avoid being in breach of the regulations.

Back in 2023, co-owner Nassef Sawiris stated that the regulations 'do not make sense', and that they protected the biggest clubs.

Now it looks as though the controversial regulations may soon be a thing of the past.

Back in February, clubs chose to continue with the PSR regulations for the current season, however, a squad to cost ratio (SCR) system was adopted by the the Premier League on a 'shadowing, non-binding basis'.

The SCR system is similar to UEFA's existing financial rules, which allows clubs to spend up to a percentage of their revenue on squad related costs.

Currently nine of the Premier League's 20 clubs already have to comply with the UEFA rules as a result of qualifying for Europe.

It is not known whether the new system that could be adopted will be the SCR one - but speaking at a Leaders sports conference in London, Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said a decision on whether to move to a new system is 'coming up'.

He said: "We are talking to our clubs about an alternative system. That's not to say we don't think the PSR system works.

"It's about closer alignment with European regulation, which is squad cost ratio, which is a revenue test. In Uefa, it's now set at 70%. Our system will be 85% because we always want our clubs to have the ability to invest.

"The Premier League has been built on the back of investment in which international capital flows [are] coming in. We don't want that to be to be stifled off.

"The PSR is a look-back profitability test and has its own strengths and weaknesses. No system will be perfect.

"We have to keep these things balanced and continue the conversation with our clubs, and that's an important decision, so we should take the time to get it right. But that decision is coming up."