Yes mate.
The source - I actually heard Ornstein and a football finance expert talk about it recently on a general Athletic transfer podcast.
They were specifically speaking of the Raya to Arsenal loan from Brentford, Arsenal had to loan him without an obligation to avoid a PSR breach to facilitate the deal, they remarked on what an incredible peice of trust that was for Brentford. They said contractually if it had been a loan with an obligation, Arsenal couldn’t have done the deal because loans and obligations attract amortisation immediately as opposed to loans with options that don’t - an obligation for Rays would have pushed them over the PSR threshold. It’s on Spotify still, if you want to listen yourself.
Essentially we pay no amortisation for Grealish with an option, but do on Rohl with an obligation.
It makes sense to be honest.
Thus I think the issue in the end was cash flow.
