Manchester United are held back by the same transfer rules that they support and need

Before Manchester United's trip to an indignant Goodison Park last November, Erik ten Hag was asked if he felt it was good that the Premier League were now clearly taking their own spending rules seriously. "Yes," was the short answer.

Everton supporters clearly disagreed a couple of days later, holding up thousands of cards with "corrupt" written on them to display their disgust for a 10-point deduction for breaching the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability (PSR) rules. Their anger has barely settled since and the mood inside Goodison would have been furious again earlier this week, when Everton were hit were another charge for breaking the same rules in 2022/23, along with Nottingham Forest.

Further punishments await both clubs and if they are delivered this season it could well have a major impact on a relegation battle that Luton Town are threatening to make interesting. One thing is for certain, every club is now aware that the league intend to enforce their spending rules.

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Those rules essentially allow you to lose £15m over a three-year period, or £105m if that includes £90m of equity funding from owners. Forest and Everton were slapped with charges this week, but PSR is becoming a well-worn acronym in boardrooms up and down the country.

Newcastle were the latest club to complain about the rules last week, after announcing a loss of £73m. Under the ownership of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), Newcastle would happily buy a shortcut to success, but they are being prevented from doing so.

"In an ideal world, given the freedom to act we would have