West Brom tied up in £10m transfer that makes mockery of PSR
Neil Moxley has highlighted the “mockery” of PSR in reference to West Brom taking Lewis Dobbin on loan from Aston Villa.
Albion confirmed the season-loan arrival of Dobbin at The Hawthorns on 6 August – a little over a month on from his move from Everton to Villa.
The fee Villa paid for Dobbin was officially undisclosed, but The Guardian reported [23 June] it was in the region of £9million.
Tim Iroegbunam moved the opposite direction, from Villa to Everton, for a similar fee.
Writing in his column for the Sunday People’s print edition [18 August, page 52], Moxley said: “Imagine you’re a fan of a club in the Championship and they spend £10million on a new striker this summer.
“You’d be pumped, right? I mean, it’s a £10m investment. So, consider this. West Brom secured a loan move for Lewis Dobbin – a player bought by Aston Villa from Everton for that amount this summer.”
Moxley added: “Come on. It’s all accountancy slight of hand – it makes no sense – and it’s making a mockery of the profit and sustainability rules.”
West Brom benefit from PSR with Lewis Dobbin transfer
Nobody is naive enough to think that Villa valued Dobbin in the £9m-plus bracket and then thought they would instantly loan him to a second-tier side.
This was simply a club having to be smart in order to stay above water. Iroegbunam went the other way and that meant Villa and Everton had some profit on their spreadsheets.
Albion have benefited in that Dobbin, while not an eight-figure player yet in terms of true valuation, is clearly a talented player with the world at his feet.
While he struggled against Fleetwood Town in the Carabao Cup last week in particular, he will come good over time. After all, Carlos Corberan is the master of getting the most out of every player – or almost every player.
For a club that has had its own fair share of financial problems like Albion, supporters know it is wise for rules to be put in place to avoid clubs going bust in the worst-case scenario.
As we have known for a while, though, PSR is simply not fit for purpose. However, if one or two other Premier League players are handed down for the season, Baggies fans will not be complaining.
In other West Brom news, the Baggies have made a move to sign a top-flight centre-forward.
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