Nottingham Forest appoint top lawyer to fight Premier League spending breach risk
Exclusive: Sale of Brennan Johnson to Spurs may prove crucial in Forest avoiding charge similar to Everton who received 10-point deduction
John Percy2 January 2024 • 5:44pm
Nottingham Forest have enlisted leading sports lawyer Nick De Marco as they attempt to avoid any Premier League charge for breaching financial regulations.
Forest will discover later this month if they are to become the third top-flight club charged with breaking the Profitability and Sustainability Rules [PSR], following
Everton’s 10-point deduction last year and Manchester City’s alleged breach.
After signing 43 players since winning the Championship play-off final in May 2022, Forest are sailing close to the wind though sources insist they are confident of avoiding sanctions.
De Marco, a KC with Blackstone Chambers, has been appointed to argue their case and has established an impressive record dealing with football, and especially Financial Fair Play.
Clubs are permitted to make financial losses of £105 million over a three-year period, with Forest reporting an annual loss of £45.6 million in their last accounts.
In the previous year, ending June 2021, they recorded a loss of £34.4 million, reduced to a loss before tax of £15.5 million.
Evangelos Marinakis, the owner, has
invested more than £250 million on transfer fees in a bid to make Forest an emerging force in English football. Their wage bill will also be significant.
Last month the Greek billionaire made a further financial commitment to the club with the conversion of £11 million worth of loans into shares for the financial year 2022-23.
Forest submitted their accounts ending June 30, 2023, last week with the crux of their argument is understood to centre around
the sale of Brennan Johnson to Tottenham.
Johnson was sold for £47.5 million on deadline day – a record sale for the club – and Forest will insist that they would have received a far lower fee if they had accepted an offer earlier in the summer.
Brentford failed with two offers of £30 million and £35 million for the Wales international in June and July respectively.
De Marco will put forward Forest’s defence as they aim to avoid becoming the latest club to be charged with breaking PSR.
Everton were handed the biggest punishment in Premier League history by an independent commission in December.
They have appealed against the decision to dock them 10 points, which will be heard and concluded before the end of the season.
Telegraph Sport understands that at least two other Premier League clubs are also in potential trouble under the new rules.
Manchester City were charged in February with more than 100 alleged breaches and that case remains ongoing.
New Premier League rules added to the handbook at the AGM last year mean that clubs now submit their accounts earlier in the season, on December 31 rather than March 31.
It was introduced so that any PSR breaches could be dealt with, charged and punished within the scope of the same season. All clubs submitted their PSR compliances last week and the Premier League is now considering those.
When contacted by Telegraph Sport, a Nottingham Forest spokesperson said: “The club has fully complied with its reporting obligations in respect of the Premier League’s revised profit and sustainability rules.
“Promotion to the Premier League will always create challenges, and the treatment of promotion bonuses is just one such example.
“The club approaches all such challenges with its long-term financial sustainability firmly in mind, as the Premier League rules intended.”
