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Should a majority of Premier League clubs
vote through the proposed hard spending cap for the 2025-26 season, it would “not only aid the competitive nature” of the league, but also “enforce a subtle shift in the perceived power base" of English soccer, according to Greg O’Keeffe of THE ATHLETIC. The cap idea is based on the concept of “anchoring," designed to “limit the amount of money any club can invest in their squad by tying it to a multiple of what the division’s lowest earners get from the league’s centralised broadcast and commercial deals.” The idea “would go a step further than the UEFA-mirroring new squad-cost rules," which clubs are set to vote on in June. Those permit squad spending to a “ratio of revenue and player sales, a small but perhaps overdue concession to those who are worried about the league’s competitive balance." Under the hard spending cap, "greater clarity and transparency would arrive, ensuring -- so the theory goes" -- that all clubs are "playing by precisely the same rules." For the EPL, the proposal is “another pushback against the need for
external regulation.” Anchoring is “unlikely to have got this far” without EPL CEO Richard Masters “recognising it as another concession to ease his ongoing scrutiny.” But ultimately it is the Professional Footballers’ Association who “might have the decisive say,” as the union will “need to be demonstrably consulted, listened to and likely negotiated with for the proposal to actually come into force for the season after next" (
THE ATHLETIC, 4/24).
