Hull could face points deduction in Premier League

Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Hull City were promoted to the Premier League for the fourth time in their history after beating Middlesbrough at Wembley By Dale Johnson Football issues correspondent Published 1 hour ago 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 the month 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 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. Had Hull lost to Boro, they would not be in danger of exceeding the maximum losses of £39m for the past three seasons and there would be no points penalty in the Championship. When the Premier League fixtures are published on Friday morning (10:00 BST) , the East Yorkshire club will have more than just their opening matches to think about. 'We have overspent and we have to sell some players' 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 that they had some very successful player sales and they contribute towards covering those losses," Maguire said, with the Tigers earning significant fees from the sales of winger Jaden Philogene and defender Jacob Greaves. "The big challenge for Hull is that, as we saw with the Nottingham Forest 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 told a Q&A at the MKM Stadium at the start of the 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 players] has raised up which is a good advantage." Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Acun Ilicali became owner of Hull City in 2022 Except Ilicali appears to have played his hand a little early, surrendering some of his bargaining power by openly admitting a clock is ticking. Ilicali got Hull promoted against the odds, with the club restricted to loans and free agents in 2025-26 as punishment for making late transfer payments to other clubs. Some of their key players - including Joe Gelhardt, Amir Hadziahmetovic, John Lundstram and Lewis Koumas - were only on loan. The club would not want to lose the players that they do own who earned them promotion. That includes Regan Sl