Premier League seeks to finalise spending rules amid opposition to ‘salary cap’

The Premier League will try to finalise details of new spending rules at its first shareholders’ meeting of the season on Tuesday amid growing opposition to one element that has been likened to a salary cap.

The league is confident of gaining the clubs’ backing to introduce squad cost ratio rules (SCR) that would limit spending on player wages, transfers and agent fees to 85% of revenue. But the inclusion of anchoring, which would cap that spending at about five times the bottom side’s income from the league, is thought to be in the balance. Last season, income for the bottom club, Southampton, was £109.2m. The league gives each club an equal share of broadcast and central commercial revenue and further payments according to finishing position and how often a team are televised live in the UK.

Votes on both proposals are expected at the next club meeting in November with a view to replace the profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) next season.

Sixteen clubs voted in favour of anchoring last year, with Manchester United, Manchester City and Aston Villa voting against and Chelsea abstaining, but the Guardian has learned that several clubs who backed the proposal now have doubts.

The biggest issue is understood to be concerns that if the principle is established, the EFL could follow, with significant implications for relegated clubs in receipt of parachute payments. The Premier League pays between £20m and £49m a year to former members for up to three years, but if Championship spending were tied to the income of the 24th team in the division, relegated clubs would have their spending on players restricted.

The Premier League and EFL have harmonised many of their financial regulations in recent years, with further alignment regarded as a possibility. The EFL is a strong opponent of parachute payments, claiming they distort the competitive balance of its competitions, and could introduce anchoring as a means of reducing their impact.

Manchester United and City have led the way in opposing anchoring and are understood to have received support from smaller clubs more recently owing to concerns about the parachute payment issue.

The Professional Footballers’ Association has written to the Premier League threatening legal action in relation to anchoring proposals and has engaged Nick De Marco KC, who successfully challenged the EFL’s attempts to introduce salary caps in League One and League Two four years ago.

SCR is less controversial because the nine English teams competing in European competition this season are restricted to spending 70% of their revenue by Uefa. The Premier League plans to gradually reduce its limit to 70%.