Championship sides may think twice about trying to get around Financial Fair Play punishment by selling their stadiums following a reported investigation in Aston Villa's finances.
The Midlands club, like a number of rivals before them, sold their stadium at the end last season in order to comply with the EFL's profit and sustainability rules.
In the short term, the plan worked with EFL signing off Villa's finances as being compliant with their FFP rules, but the Premier League appear to be less satisfied.
The authorities of the top flight received Villa's paperwork last weekend following their promotion in May, and they are now set to investigate the stadium sale, according to The Times.
The report claims the Premier League's investigation will focus on the value of Villa Park, which was sold for £56.7 million to NSWE Stadium Limited, a company controlled by the club's owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens.
Earlier this season, Birmingham City were deducted nine points for their breach of FFP rules, which saw them lose almost £48.8 million across a three-year period between 2015 and 2018.
Clubs in the Premier League and Championship can only post a maximum loss of £39 million.
Interestingly, Villa were on course to exceed in their current three-year cycle, losing £50.6 million in the 2016/17 season alone.
However, they have offset losses with the sale of Villa Park, something Derby County also did this season with owner Mel Morris purchasing Pride Park.
The Rams ended up posting a profit as a result, despite being on course to incur significant losses.
As far as the EFL is concerned, it's a legal measure, one that was approved in the cases of both Aston Villa and Derby.
But should the Premier League take issue, it may just force any clubs considering the action in the future to think again, particularly if the Premier League is their objective.
