In the Premier League, measures to limit club spending continue to be introduced. Clubs have already agreed to new financial fair play rules, and at the beginning of this week, they voted for another innovation – setting a salary cap. The need for such significant financial reforms became evident after “Everton” and “Nottingham Forest” were penalized for violating profitability and sustainability rules. The main idea of the new anchor (or supporting) approach that the league subsequently wants to follow is not so much about strict limitations, but about ensuring that teams play by the same rules. You can Mostbet download and place bets on upcoming Premier League matches, as well as on other exciting sports events.
The new rules are next
The new rules, which will be introduced, will change the existing PSR rules in the Premier League. Currently, these rules determine how much money clubs can lose and spend on transfers over three seasons. PSR allows clubs to lose up to £105 million, but only £15 million of that can be the club’s own funds. Expenditures on youth development, infrastructure, and community projects may be excluded from these calculations. The new rules are not yet defined, but they are likely to be tightened to ensure the financial stability of clubs.
These rules will be scrapped from the beginning of the 2025/2026 season – the league plans to introduce new ones, similar to UEFA’s Financial Expenditure Control rules adopted in 2022. The main difference is that the Premier League will establish a two-tier system: clubs participating in European competitions will only be able to spend 70% of their revenue, while others – 85%. UEFA, on the other hand, will limit the spending of clubs participating in its tournaments on player and coach salaries, transfers, and agent fees to 70% of their income.
Meanwhile, this rule is being phased in: this season, teams are allowed to spend 90% of revenue, next season it will be 80%, and from the 2025/2026 season it will be 70%. UEFA punishes violator clubs with fines, but for significant violations, additional disciplinary sanctions may be applied. These include:
- A one-time exceedance of the established threshold by 20%;
- An exceedance of 10%, but taking into account that this has occurred in one of the last three seasons;
- Any exceedance in two out of the last three seasons.
In the Premier League, significant violations will continue to be punished by point deductions, although teams are trying to push the idea of financial penalties. Previously, leaders of some teams proposed introducing a luxury tax: those who exceed the established limit should pay a certain amount into an emergency fund to assist clubs in difficult financial situations. However, this proposal did not receive the support of the majority of clubs, so it was not even put to a vote.
But the tethering system was approved – it will apply to team expenses (salaries + amortized transfer payments + agent fees). The ceiling will tie the amount a club can spend on the team to a multiple of what the Premier League club with the lowest commercial and media revenues receives. Last year, a coefficient of 4.5 was discussed, however, several teams opposed it, so it is expected to be raised to 5.
How will this work?
If we take data on club revenues for the 2022/2023 season (reports for this season will only appear later), then the team spending ceiling would be £518 million: “Southampton” earned £103.6 million, multiplied by six – and we get that limit.
Clubs will have a season to adapt to the new rules and adjust their finances, but it’s already clear that it won’t be easy for them. The wage bill for most is enormous – according to Capology, seven clubs spend over £2 million per week. This means that “Man United” alone spends £15.2 million per month just on salaries, or £183.4 million per year.
Many smaller club owners advocate for spending restrictions: for them, it’s a chance to narrow the gap and prevent teams backed by sovereign wealth funds and billionaires from increasing spending. However, some executives fear that such close linkage of expenses to income, on the contrary, will cement the financial advantages of the largest clubs and may harm competitiveness on the field. Players’ unions view the situation from their perspective – they believe that salary restrictions may contradict European competition law. The Professional Footballers’ Association has already stated: “Obviously, we will wait to see further details of these specific proposals, but we have always made it clear that we will oppose any measures that impose ‘hard’ restrictions on player wages.”
