Wolves look set to avoid breaching the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules despite recording a loss of £67.2million for the financial year ending in May 2023.
Premier League clubs have had to become more mindful of their spending after seeing Everton and Nottingham Forest charged with breaching the competition’s financial rules in recent months.
Everton were handed a 10-point deduction last November over their first breach of the rules, which was eventually reduced to six on appeal. However, the Toffees will discover the outcome of a second charge by mid-April, with Forest also waiting for confirmation regarding any possible punishment.
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Premier League clubs can lose a maximum of £105m over a rolling three-year assessment period before facing sanctions, with spending on projects including stadium and training-ground improvements, women’s football and youth and community work eligible to be claimed back.
Wolves recorded losses of £46.1m in 2021-22 and were reportedly anticipating losses between £60m and £80m for 2022-23.
They sold a number of key players including Ruben Neves, Matheus Nunes, Nathan Collins, Conor Coady and Raul Jimenez last summer, in a bid to stave off the threat of a PSR breach.
Their transfer policy led head coach Julen Lopetegui to walk out six days before their first game of the Premier League season, but the Spaniard’s successor Gary O’Neil has led them into contention for European qualification and into the FA Cup quarter-finals.
We have released our headline financial information for the year ending 31st May 2023 ????
— Wolves (@Wolves) March 2, 2024
Wolves avoided being accused of a PSR breach when Everton and Forest were charged in January, and the club are also confident of avoiding a breach next season.
Reports on Saturday suggested Wolves’ current forecasts for this year indicate they will stay marginally within the £105m threshold for the period covering 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24.
Those forecasts are also believed to be based on a predicted finish of 17th for this season, while O’Neil’s side currently sit ninth with 11 games remaining, with each place in the table being worth £2.8m in merit payments.
