Premier League owner considers legal action after Newcastle United & Aston Villa transfer claims

Aston Villa owner Nassef Sawiris is considering taking legal action against the Premier League’s financial rules.

This comes after reports that Villa along with the likes of Newcastle United, Chelsea, Nottingham Forest, Everton and Leicester City, would have to sell players this month in order to comply with profitability and sustainability rules. Manchester City is also pushing legal action against the Premier League as it faces 115 charges for allegedly breaching financial rules.

Newcastle have remained quiet so far with the club confident it will continue to comply with PSR.

But Villa owner Sawiris has hit out at the rules in an interview with the Financial Times, calling them ‘not good for football’ and ‘anti-competitive’. PSR currently limits Premier League clubs to losses of £105million over a three-year period.

Villa saw a proposal to raise the permitted losses to £135million rejected at the Premier League AGM last month. And the club’s owner is now considering legal action against the Premier League as he said: “Some of the rules have actually resulted in cementing the status quo more than creating upward mobility and fluidity in the sport.

“The rules do not make sense and are not good for football.

“Managing a sports team has become more like being a treasurer or a bean counter rather than looking at what your team needs.

“It’s more about creating paper profits, not real profits. It becomes a financial game, not a sporting game.”

Villa have just qualified for the Champions League for the first time having finished fourth in the Premier League during the 2023-24 campaign.