PREMIER LEAGUE CLUBS TO VOTE ON NEW FINANCIAL RULES AFFECTING ARSENAL, CHELSEA AND TOTTENHAM

Premier League clubs will vote on Monday to decide whether to implement a "hard spending cap" to new financial rules being introduced from the 2025/26 season.

Clubs are set to discuss the drastic cost controls during a top-flight meeting held next week, which will feature the topic of "anchoring". This approach would see elite sides able to spend a multiple of the amount the league's bottom club receives in TV money, transfers, wages and agents.

It remains to be seen what the figure would be set at, though figures for last season show 20th-placed Southampton earned £103.6million in TV money. The club with the highest wage bill in 2022/23 was Manchester City, who generated more than four times as much at £422.9million.

An agreement was found earlier this month to replace the Premier League's current profit and sustainability rules from 2025/26, limiting clubs to spending 85 per cent of their total revenue on wages, transfers and agents' fees, and "anchoring" is viewed as another possible addition approach to eradicate reckless spending that has resulted in clubs being hit with points deductions for breaching regulations.

It was also recently suggested a 'luxury tax' is being considered for teams who fall foul of rules, which would see those who overspend face repercussions. The money collected would then be redistributed to the remaining Premier League clubs that have operated within their means.

The Telegraph have reported Manchester United are set to "vehemently oppose" the notion of a hard spending cap when it is raised, viewing it as putting them at a "disadvantage" to the rest of Europe. It is added Manchester City are also expected to dismiss the idea.

Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea's stance on the subject is yet to emerge, though the latter would likely be the most likely of the three clubs to join City and United in rejecting plans for a spending cap. Chelsea have spent more than £1billion on players since Todd Boehly took charge of the club two years ago and are expected to need to sell players this summer in order to comply with current profit and sustainability rules.

Had anchoring been in place last season, the cap on squad costs would have stood at £518m. Chelsea are the only club in the division that would have surpassed this figure, having splashed £539m on wages, transfers and agent fees.

2024-04-24T18:44:52Z dg43tfdfdgfd