Leicester City Face Potential Premier League PSR Charge Over Latest Financial Accounts
Leicester City are anxiously awaiting confirmation from the Premier League on whether they will face charges for breaching profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) for the second consecutive season.
The club is among several top-flight teams required to submit financial accounts for the 2023-24 season by 5 p.m. on New Year’s Eve due to recording losses over the past two years.
A verdict on potential PSR breaches is expected by 13 January.
Earlier this season, Leicester avoided a Premier League points deduction after being charged with a £24.4 million breach for the 2022-23 season.
The club’s legal team successfully argued before an independent commission that Leicester were no longer a Premier League club when they submitted their accounts for that period on 30 June 2023, having been relegated at the season’s end.
Despite this, Leicester’s financial situation remains precarious.
The club posted pre-tax losses of £92.5 million and £90 million for the 2022 and 2023 financial years, respectively, putting them at risk of another breach.
Any charges could severely impact their survival hopes, with Ruud van Nistelrooy’s side currently sitting second-bottom at the season’s halfway point.
Premier League regulations limit clubs to losses of £105 million over a three-year period, provided they remained in the top flight for all three years.
However, Leicester’s single season in the Championship last year reduces their permitted losses by £22 million due to stricter English Football League (EFL) spending rules.
Player sales, including Harvey Barnes’s £38 million transfer to Newcastle, Timothy Castagne’s £15 million move to Fulham, and £10 million compensation from Enzo Maresca’s move to Chelsea, will help offset their losses.
However, the £30 million sale of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall to Chelsea will not count, as it occurred in July 2024.
Leicester remain optimistic about avoiding further sanctions, but Premier League sources believe the club could still face scrutiny.
If relegated again, they could also face EFL charges for overspending during the 2020-23 period.
New PSR regulations, introduced 18 months ago to ensure prompt action on breaches, mandate that clubs posting aggregate losses over the past two accounting periods submit their financial accounts by 31 December.
The Premier League will now assess these submissions, with decisions on any breaches expected by 13 January.
Given their £24.4 million breach for the 2022-23 season, Leicester appears to be the most vulnerable.
In contrast, clubs like Chelsea, Everton, and Nottingham Forest, who offset losses with summer player sales, are confident of complying with PSR rules.
