Finance expert Kieran Maguire has claimed that Manchester City can sign Jack Grealish and Harry Kane while still complying with financial fair play rules (Football Insider).
A staggering amount of money is said to be surrounding the two England stars, with Football Insider having also reported that Grealish is set to undergo a Man City medical as Aston Villa will accept a huge bid of £100m.
This deal would be a new record and would make Grealish the most expensive English player of all time and also the most expensive Premier League arrival, just ahead of Paul Pogba’s £94.05m transfer fee to Manchester United in 2016 (Transfermarkt).
This potential new record could be overtaken this very window, as The Athletic claimed that Tottenham’s asking price for the England captain is £150m.
It has been reported that City could try and sign both of the England internationals this summer transfer window.
Maguire has claimed that, despite the money City are going to spend, it could still comply with the FFP rules.
He said: “It is a staggering amount of money.
“I think there would have to be movement in both directions. The way that FFP works is that it’s based on a profit model.
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“If they signed both of them, they’d both go on a five or six-year deal. So it’s the amortisation cost you’ve got to look at.
“If you’ve got £260m spread over six years, that comes down to about £45m-a-year.
“But when you sell a player on the other hand, all of the profit is immediately taken to the profit and loss account.”
Maguire explained that City would probably look to sell a first-team player, and used Sterling as an example.
He added: “So if they sell, for the sake of example, Raheem Sterling for £80m, he has been there six years now so his value in the books will be something like £5-10m.
“The difference between his book value, which is cost minus amortisation, and the sale price, all of that is taken to your profit and loss account immediately.
“City are now selling lots of players we’ve barely heard of in that £8-20m bracket.
“So If you sell two or three of them then it’s not impossible to bring in both Grealish and Kane and be within the rules.”
SpursWeb Opinion
It is hard to believe that after City’s previous problem with the FFP rules, they can magic up the best part of £250 million.
But, as explained by Maguire, it clearly is possible. Surely, it appears, they will have to sell at least one player for a big value to balance the books.
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