Football finance expert reveals how many points Leicester would have been deducted as club exploits 'loophole' to avoid PSR punishment

A football finance expert has revealed how many points Leicester City would have been deducted had they not successfully appealed their PSR punishment.

On Tuesday (September 3) Leicester City won an appeal against the Premier League's decision that they had broken profit and sustainability rules (PSR).

The Premier League charged Leicester with making losses totalling £129.4 million over a three-year period ending on June 30, 2023.

Premier League clubs can make a maximum loss of £105m over a three-year period, but Leicester allegedly exceeded that figure by £24.4m.

Leicester appealed, but an independent commission ruled the league could take action.

The club appealed for a second time, after which an independent panel found the Premier League did not have the jurisdiction to punish the Foxes as they were relegated from the top flight at the end of the 2022-23 campaign.

Therefore, Leicester were not a Premier League club when the three-year accounting period ended.

Football finance expert Kieran Maguire has now revealed how many points Leicester would likely have been deducted had their second appeal failed.

Maguire used the figures provided by the Premier League and the punishments handed out to Everton and Nottingham Forest last season following PSR breaches to inform his estimation.

Leicester faced the prospect of a points deduction. (Image: Getty)

He wrote on X: "On the basis of the Forest/Everton points deduction of 3 points for breaking the rules and 1 more point per £6.5m above the limit, IF the Premier League calculations were correct then with a £24.4m breach Leicester would have had a 7 point deduction (subject to aggravating & mitigating factors)."

Leicester stormed to the Championship title last season to return to the Premier League at the first time of asking, but Steve Cooper's side have taken just one point from their opening three games.

A seven-point deduction would have left them with a sizeable task early on in the season.