This summer has been one of tremendous change at Crystal Palace, with manager Oliver Glasner moving on following the expiration of his contract, Pierre Sage arriving from Lens as his replacement in the dugout and the sale of Maxence Lacroix to Chelsea for a fee of £52m but as of yet, there has been very little in the way of incoming transfer business.
Following the Eagles’ triumph over Rayo Vallecano in the Conference League final, there had been real hope from supporters of a bumper summer in the market.
But thanks to our participation in this season’s Europa League, we have no choice but to fall in line with the financial regulations laid out by Uefa for all clubs participating in their competitions.
The main headline from this comes in the shape of the squad cost rules, which in layman’s terms, means that a club can spend no more than 70 per cent of its relevant football revenue on first-team and coaching staff wages, transfer fees and sums paid to agents.
With that in mind, let’s presuppose that Palace’s revenue sits at £200m – the most recent figures for 2024-25 came in at £196.4m. That equates to a total allowed spend of £140m across wages, transfers and agent fees in total. Once you delve into the detail of transfer amortisation, the water becomes even more muddied.
