Transfers & Too Much Sleep
The Economist and The Athletic are two digital publications I try to read daily. Each week, I'll share two articles that caught my attention; one from each publication.
This week: how spending rules can impact transfers and how much sleep is too much.
Newcastle’s settlement with UEFA and what it means for the summer transfer window
Even though Newcastle is not in European competition for the upcoming season, the club’s settlement with UEFA incorporates a £6m fine for exceeding (i) the acceptable deviation criteria for the three years ending June 2025 and (ii) the 2025 70% squad cost ratio. The fine is, however, only part of a forward-facing set of behavioural requirements ensuring that the club can only have a spending deficit over the next three years of up to approximately €70m.
The club:
is also prohibited from registering new players on its A List unless there is a positive transfer balance; and
faces a potential ban from future UEFA competition seasons if it does not comply with the settlement conditions.
Although the piece’s headline focusses on Newcastle, it is an excellent illustration of the competing set of financial rules that an EPL club must navigate (primarily the EPL’s squad cost ratio and UEFA’s Financial Sustainability Regulations).
For context, EPL clubs Aston Villa, Chelsea, and Nottingham Forest were also sanctioned by UEFA.
Cost controls and settlement deals are about more than the headline fine. They can spill over into transfer spending and leave open the possibility of future additional sporting sanctions if the club fails to adhere to the ‘plea bargain’.
Is too much sleep as bad as too little?
Spoiler alert: apparently both too little and too much sleep can be harmful, with the study finding that 6.5-7.8 hours for women and 6.4-7.7 hours for men is the optimal night’s sleep. Not enough sleep can “lead to a drop in cognitive abilities, increased stress and generally grumpiness the following day”.
It got me thinking about my own sleeping habits and working routines. I’m usually asleep before 11 and up around 7, (which is slightly more than the study’s optimum, though it seems to work for me), with a little more slack on the weekends. More broadly, 2026 has been a year of ingraining better habits and tracking them for accountability: time on the bike before work each morning, cold showers and more reading have all become ingrained. Indeed, writing this makes me sift through more Economist pieces, which is a useful means to an end. Just like some of my newly acquired productivity habits, I know sleep is fundamental to my recharging. Both the study’s findings on oversleeping and my own routine point to the same lesson: having a good rest ethic can be as important as a good work ethic.