Newcastle and the completely absurd transfer of Odysseas Vlachodimos

“The astonishing case of Odysseas Vlachodimos, the £20m goalkeeper Newcastle didn’t want”. This is the enticing title of an article proposed by the English site The Athletic this Friday. We will relay the content to you, quite astonishing. This is a case that has indeed passed under the radar during this summer transfer window, while all the lights are clearly red in this story. Here is a player recruited for €4.90 million by Nottingham Forest from Benfica only a year ago, who has only started 5 times in the Premier League, and who found himself transferred for €24 million on June 30 to Newcastle, a top-of-the-table club.

Be careful, Vlachodimos is not just anyone, and even less a bad goalkeeper. A regular for 5 years at Benfica Lisbon, he earned some youth selections with Germany, before opting for the Greek national team (44 selections), where he became the starting goalkeeper. He thus played the first two Nations League matches (two wins and no goals conceded), in the England group. But here’s the thing, at Newcastle, he is only the 4th goalkeeper in the hierarchy, behind the regular Nick Pope, his backup Martin Dubravka and the third goalkeeper, who had also just been recruited from Birmingham City, John Ruddy. All goalkeepers over 30 years old.

Newcastle under pressure from PSR

So why did Newcastle spend over €20m on a goalkeeper they absolutely didn’t need? The Athletic tells the story behind this curious movement, which is mainly explained by the “Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules” (PSR), the English financial fair play. This regulation stipulates that Premier League clubs cannot suffer more than £105 million in losses over a three-year period. Everton and Nottingham Forest have paid the price, having points deducted for not respecting this rule. And at the start of the summer transfer window, Newcastle were clearly under pressure, as their transfer window after being bought by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia created a serious deficit in 2021.

As a result, almost everyone was for sale. In the end, it was Yankuba Minteh, once announced at Lyon, sold to Brighton for €35 million, and Elliot Anderson, sold to Nottingham Forest for €41.20 million, who were sacrificed. And it is because of the latter that Vlachodimos will make the opposite journey. Because Nottingham Forest is also still in the sights of this demanding financial fair play, and needs to sell players. Newcastle and Nottingham are starting discussions around many players from their respective squads. It is June 29 and the two clubs have two days to complete their accounting period and be in line with the PSR.

Vlachodimos imposed by Nottingham Forest

Nottingham Forest absolutely wants Elliot Anderson, a young English attacking midfielder who has entered the Magpies’ rotation, and in whom Eddie Howe sees a great future. In addition, Anderson has been a Newcastle fan since he was a kid, and is living his dream playing at St James’ Park. But there is no choice, they have to bring in fresh money. Except that Nottingham adds a condition, paying in exchange for the transfer of Odysseas Vlachodimos, who arrived a year earlier and who did not convince. It is also the former Strasbourg player Matz Sels who was recruited in January 2024 to take the starting position. “It’s like having a gun to our heads”a Newcastle source told The Athletic.

The Magpies have absolutely no need for a goalkeeper, as we explained above, but are willing to pay £20 million, or €23.6 million to be precise. “Depending on how the PSR is calculated, the full sum received for Anderson would be booked as a profit in the 2023-24 accounts, while Vlachodimos’ price would be amortized – or spread – over his contract. Newcastle felt they had no choice but to accept.”writing The Athletic. Nobody wanted Anderson to leave and Vlachodimos to arrive, but that’s exactly what happened.

The unfortunate Vlachodimos, who had already lost his place at Nottingham, therefore landed in a club with no prospect of playing time, but signed a long contract, estimated until 2029. He has not appeared on any match sheet since the start of the season. Anderson, for his part, started 3 matches as a starter with Nottingham Forest and became an English international hopeful during the international break in September. This is still the perverse effect of this PSR supposed to regulate the crazy spending of English clubs. On the contrary, it is capable of generating deals without any sporting sense.