'We have overspent and we have to sell some players'

[Getty Images] When Hull City won promotion back to the Premier League by beating Middlesbrough in the play-off final, it came with guaranteed riches of around £200m. Yet, in a strange twist, winning that game means Hull must sell players before the end of June to avoid a potential points deduction in the Premier League. The Tigers have an overspend of around £6m on their profit and sustainability (PSR) calculation. Under the English Football League rules, that could lead to a six-point penalty. It is a breach caused by promotion bonuses included in the players' contracts. If Hull had lost to Middlesbrough, they would not have been in danger of exceeding the maximum losses of £39m for the past three seasons and there would have been no points penalty in the Championship. Football finance expert Kieran Maguire told BBC Sport that Hull's losses had been "relatively modest" in recent seasons. "That was partly due to the fact they had some very successful player sales which contribute towards covering those losses," Maguire said, with the Tigers earning significant fees from the sales of Jaden Philogene and Jacob Greaves. "The big challenge for Hull is that, as we saw with Nottingham Forest 's charges and points deduction a couple of seasons ago, if a club pays promotion bonuses, those bonuses are included in the PSR calculations. "Therefore it can unwittingly knock a club over the £39m limit." Maguire says that in total a squad's promotion bonuses are worth between £10m and £15m. Hull owner Acun Ilicali has been surprisingly candid that work must be done in the next couple of weeks. "We have overspent and we have to sell some players before 1 July," Ilicali said in a Q&A session at MKM Stadium at the beginning of this month. "I'm not afraid, we have managed harder things. For us, this is more manageable. Now we are a Premier League team, the values [of the players] have risen up which is a good advantage." Except Ilicali appears to have played his hand a little early, surrendering some of his bargaining power by openly admitting the clock is ticking. However, he is confident that money can be raised by selling players the club will not need in the Premier League. Then they can turn to squad building next month. Read the full article here