‘I’m not sure’ - Richard Masters makes shock admission when grilled about Newcastle United’s FFP concerns
Newcastle United reluctantly sold Elliot Anderson to Nottingham Forest amid a waorrying FFP/PSR backdrop
Premier League chief executive Richard Masters has conceded he does not know how to prevent clubs from offloading academy players.
FFP/PSR restrictions have become increasingly intrusive to top-flight sides in recent years. Everton and Nottingham Forest were given points deductions last season - adding weight to the potential consequences for breaching the rules.
Currently, clubs are only permitted to lose £105million over a three-year period - a figure that has remained unchanged since 2013. The regulations have prevented Newcastle United - much to their frustration - from unleashing the Public Investment Fund’s bottomless pit.
An unforeseen way to combat the measures has been to sell academy stars who carry zero book value. Chelsea and Manchester City, in particular, have effectively used this strategy to bankroll future spending.
Newcastle reluctantly used this tool by selling Elliot Anderson to crawl over the June 30 FFP/PSR deadline. Premier League chief Masters - a man Toon fans know well from the takeover saga - admitted he is “not quite sure” how to fix the problem.
"Players that generate the most profit are sometimes utilised in different spending plans that people have and in investment plans over a three-year period," he said. "So I’m not quite sure how you apply accounting principles and avoid that outcome.
"I do understand the point, but I think there is a huge opportunity for young players, young homegrown players in the Premier League at the moment. I think it's one of the great stories of the last 10 years, the fortunes of the England team being transformed by the investment that's been made in the academy system, not just across the Premier League but across the EFL as well. The story around young players in this country is a really positive one."