Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s transfer makes Leicester City the odd club out amid PSR’s maddened struggle

This week was a crazy battle. And of those in the midst of it, Leicester City are the outliers. The nature of the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) means that June 30 now marks cutoff day, with teams across the country desperately doing business ahead of the cutoff. But instead of bringing in last-minute additions to prop up teams, they offload players to comply with financial regulations and avoid points deductions, scratching each other’s backs in the process.

But look at the bids that City’s Premier League rivals are making and the names of the players involved don’t come out. Tim Iroegbunam and Lewis Dobbin, who were traded between Aston Villa and Everton, are good prospects and could go on to have excellent careers in the top flight, but neither are key players for the teams they are leaving.

READ MORE: Business to be done by June 30 for City to avoid PSR nightmare

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This also applies to Omari Kellyman and Ian Maatsen, who could swap places at Villa and Chelsea. Maatsen already has proven talent, having reached the Champions League final while on loan at Borussia Dortmund last season, but he is more than demanding at Stamford Bridge.

But here City are scrambling to sell their most influential player. Losing high-profile players is not unusual for City and has actually helped them in previous years, allowing them to spend the proceeds of their sales on strengthening the squad as a whole.

However, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s exit would feel different. When Wesley Fofana left for Chelsea, he skipped training to force a move. When Riyad Mahrez moved to Manchester City, it ended six months in which the Algerian looked for an exit. When Harry Maguire was sold to Manchester United, Leicester negotiated the deal from such a strong position that they managed to get a huge fee. By the end of those sagas, it was either a case of good deal or good business.

For a number of reasons, Dewsbury-Hall’s potential exit does not have the same feel. City don’t have as many excellent players in their squad as before, so the departure of any key man will be felt more.

In addition, he is a reluctant player to leave. It is already extremely frustrating that PSR encourages the selling of domestic talent. For fans, it remains one of the game’s greatest thrills to see local boys become first-team stars after 10 or 12 years of progression through the academy, which has been shaped from the age of eight. But with Dewsbury-Hall, there is also a clear love for the club that shaped him. He would be more than happy to continue representing City, and yet it seems the club can’t afford that to happen.

And that touches on the biggest problem. Previously, City’s big sales were carried out as part of a plan, as part of a plan to improve the squad and help them slowly close the gap on the top teams.

Dewsbury-Hall’s potential exit is not that. Instead, it feels like a move made to make up for past mistakes. Even if selling Dewsbury-Hall is the smart move now for City to avoid another potential PSR breach and the possibility of a second sanction, it doesn’t change the fact that it’s also their payback for poor decisions in recent years.

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