Shilen Patel is looking for West Brom's next manager
Shilen Patel is looking for West Brom's next manager

West Brom PSR update ahead of next accounts as bumps set to arrive

Jonathan Burnett

Jonny is a University of Leeds journalism graduate who became part of the FootballInsider team in Spring 2024, and recently worked as Head of Media for Widnes Vikings Rugby League club. Writing as a freelance reporter and commentator for The Sporting News and StatsPerform, he has covered matches in competitions including the FIFA Men's and Women's World Cups, as well as the Champions League, Women's Euro 2022, Six Nations and the Rugby Union World Cup.

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West Brom should expect "more bumps to come" in their efforts to comply with PSR rules once their next set of accounts is released, Chris Lepkowski has said.

The journalist posted on BlueSky (19 December) to remind fans that the next set of accounts to be released will pre-date the arrival of current owner and chairman Shilen Patel at The Hawthorns.

Albion were placed under an EFL business plan in the summer with the club on course to breach PSR regulations, but have taken action by cutting the wage bill of the playing squad down by 30 per cent.

Lepkowski said: "A reminder that the next accounts (that pre-date Patel arrival) are also expected to necessitate further financial adjustments (unless we can find ways to significantly raise revenue), just to ensure PSR compliance.

"This isn't over yet. More bumps to come, potentially."

West Brom faced with short-term pain for long-term PSR gain

Given the 30 per cent wage reduction and scale of the rebuild overseen by Patel and Carlos Corberan this summer, the fact that Albion are locked in a Championship promotion race is hugely impressive.

The departures of Cedric Kipre, Matt Phillips and Nathaniel Chalobah – all for free – left Corberan without three of last season's squad, with zero money coming in to fund their replacements.

West Brom Shilen Patel
Shilen Patel has worked hard to steady the ship since succeeding Guochuan Lai at West Brom

While the Baggies did collect fees for Okay Yokuslu, Conor Townsend and Brandon Thomas-Asante, that still left plenty to do in terms of revitalising the squad and very little to spend on doing so.

And yet, Albion sit eighth in the Championship table with just one defeat in their last 13 matches, albeit 10 draws across this run has seen them fall from the top two down to the edge of the play-off places.

The next round of accounts don't look likely to be pretty reading, but if Corberan can make his shoestring budget go all the way, the potential of Premier League millions could make their PSR worries a thing of the past.

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