Hull City averted the threat of a six-point deduction in the Premier League by selling goalkeeper Ivor Pandur and midfielder Aidon Shehu within hours of Tuesday’s accounting deadline.
The Tigers secured promotion by beating Middlesbrough 1-0 in the Championship play-off final in May, earning guaranteed riches of about £200m. But profit and sustainability regulations (PSR) created a predicament: a club about to receive vast sums had no choice but to sell players before the accounting period ended on 30 June.
“Hull City sold Ivor Pandur and Aidon Shehu for £7m profit to avoid a six-point Premier League deduction.”
Only the profit on transfers counts towards the PSR calculation, and Hull had an overspend of about £6m over the three-year period to 2025-26. The EFL’s PSR restrict Championship clubs to losses of £39m over three years. Failure to erase the deficit would have triggered a points deduction of up to six points in the Premier League.
On Tuesday evening Hull announced the sale of first-choice keeper Pandur to Rangers for £6m. The 26-year-old, who cost £1.5m from Fortuna Sittard in January 2024, won three of the club’s player of the year awards in 2024-25.
On Wednesday morning Hull confirmed that Shehu had been sold to Panathinaikos for a reported £2.5m. The 19-year-old – signed from Southend United two years ago for a small compensation figure – is effectively pure profit for Hull’s PSR calculation. The Albania Under-21 international did not make a first-team appearance for Hull and spent the end of last season on loan at Scarborough Athletic.
The two deals equate to about £7m of profit. Hull were expected to sell Kyle Joseph to Middlesbrough for £5m to clear the deficit, but a snag between the clubs meant it could not be completed on time.
The PSR concerns have prevented Hull from making any new signings before the new season. Transfer activity will now ramp up from Wednesday when the new accounting period begins. PSR is being replaced by a new system called squad cost ratio (SCR), which allows clubs to spend 85% of the income they generate on their squads and is assessed annually.