A potential points deduction over a breach of financial rules was “the most important” topic for Ruud van Nistelrooy during his negotiations with Leicester City, and he expects to be kept in the loop with the club's fate soon to be announced.

The Premier League are expected to reveal next week if any of the 20 clubs have been charged with exceeding the threshold set out in their Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) for the 23-24 season. Clubs, including City, had to file their accounts for the last campaign by December 31.

While City’s lawyers successfully argued their case to ensure the club avoided a points penalty for their 22-23 finances, there were not mass celebrations. It was known that City were not out of the woods until their 23-24 accounts were cleared.

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The EFL had anticipated City breaching PSR for the three-year block now being assessed, but there was reasonable confidence at the club that their June business had saved them. Ahead of the June 30 deadline, City earned £30m in pure profit for homegrown midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, having received around £10m in compensation for manager Enzo Maresca and his staff a few weeks earlier.

Coupled with the sales of Harvey Barnes and Timothy Castagne for a combined £53m at the start of the season, City made plenty of profit in transfer dealings. But they did also spend around £38m on the likes of Harry Winks, Conor Coady, Tom Cannon, Stephy Mavididi, and Mads Hermansen.

Plus, even though their wage expenditure will have come down because of relegation clauses, they had the eighth-biggest wage bill in the Premier League the year they went down, and so would still have had a significant wage bill for a Championship side. That’s even with several high-earners leaving on free transfers.

For the three years being analysed, City must not exceed a PSR threshold of £83m in losses. That’s £35m for each of the two Premier League seasons in the three-year block, plus £13m for the one Championship season.

In 21-22 and 22-23, City recorded a significant combined loss of £182.5m. But there are plenty of payments that do not count towards PSR and so City will be close to the £83m mark, whether under or over.

Van Nistelrooy was aware it was a potential problem and said he discussed PSR with owner Aiyawatt ‘Top’ Srivaddhanaprabha and director of football Jon Rudkin during their meetings before he signed his contract to take over as manager. While he is happy for the club to take charge of the situation, he expects to be kept informed.

Asked if he had received any assurances from the club over PSR, van Nistelrooy said: “The most important thing in our conversations before I signed, it was a topic. As well, the January window. For me, onwards, especially on the PSR stories, it’s important I know internally how things are being managed. For me it’s up to the club to communicate this towards the media and then for me to focus on winning games and performances.”

Then asked if the club told him in those conversations that there was nothing to worry about over PSR, van Nistelrooy avoided a clear answer, saying: “It’s important to address that it was a topic and that the club will handle the situation, as it did before and it will do so again. From there on, I was okay, and focusing on my job as a manager.”

If charged over a breach, City would then enter a process with the Premier League that may see points deducted later in the campaign. Everton and Nottingham Forest were hit with deductions of eight and four points respectively last season.

With City in 19th place in the table, a points penalty would be a big blow for the club. Five straight losses has left them two points shy of safety.

LeicestershireLive contacted Leicester City for comment.

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