Emile Heskey has said the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability regulations (PSR) are not fit for purpose.
PSR has dominated the first month of the transfer window with clubs scrambling to agree deals and ensure their finances are in order.
Under the Premier League’s PSR rules, clubs are permitted to lose a maximum of £105million over three seasons, although certain costs can be deducted, such as infrastructure, women’s football, investment in youth and community work.
Last season, Everton and Nottingham Forest were hit with with points deductions for financial breaches. Critics of PSR have claimed the rules favour the larger clubs with bigger revenues, while the incentivising of selling academy players – deemed 100% profit on the balance sheet – is also negatively viewed.
Heskey has seen two of his former clubs, Aston Villa and Leicester, impacted by PSR this summer. Villa saw Douglas Luiz move to Juventus in a PSR-pushed deal despite securing Champions League qualification last season, while Leicester were forced to cash-in on influential midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.
The former England forward said changes need to be made to ensure a ‘level playing field for all’.
“It’s not (fit for purpose),” Heskey exclusively told The Football Faithful at an event hosted by 888sport.
“There needs to be some control, but it needs to be a level playing field for all. All the clubs need to get together and agree on the right control which is needed for spending and living within your means as a club.
“The top clubs with huge commercial revenue and income have an advantage, for sure. You see the clubs which have had points deductions, it’s so difficult for them and we need a solution that ensures we don’t have ongoing points deductions and a process which works for all clubs.”
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