Man Utd and Man City outvoted as Premier League 'agree new rule change'

Premier League clubs have reportedly agreed to the introduction of a spending cap despite Manchester United, Manchester City and Aston Villa voting against the proposal. A vote was taken at a Premier League shareholders’ meeting on Monday to decide whether the plans should be implemented in the near future.

The spending cap, known as ‘anchoring’, will result in top teams being restricted to spending a proportion of the amount that the bottom club receives in TV money. This will apply to transfer spending, as well as wages and agent fees, with the aim of ensuring the Premier League remains competitive as opposed to being dominated by a few super-rich clubs.

An agreement in principle was reached on Monday for the spending cap to be introduced, according to The Times. It is said that 14 out of 20 votes were needed for the proposal to be passed, with further discussions set to take place before the Premier League holds its AGM in June.

Three clubs were thought to have voted against the proposal, with United and City being joined by Villa in opposing the plans, while Chelsea abstained from the vote. The spending cap is set to be introduced as part of a wider reformation of Premier League financial rules, many of which will take effect from the 2025-26 season.

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The current profit and sustainability rules will be replaced by a squad cost control, which will ban clubs from spending more than 85 per cent of their total revenue on wages, transfer payments and agent fees. The proposed spending cap would fix a ceiling on that spending with the aim of creating a more level playing field.

It is said to have gained support from clubs fearing those with the highest revenues would have too much of an advantage over the smaller teams in the Premier League. It is also being supported by others who are concerned about the potential spending power of state-backed clubs.

United, who boast some of the biggest commercial revenues in the Premier League, were said to have been against the proposal due to fears it would put English clubs at a disadvantage to the rest of Europe. However, it has been reported that clubs will be assured they will not be forced to reduce their spending from current levels.

Last season’s official figures show that Southampton, who finished bottom of the league, received £104million in TV money. A cap of six times that figure would be £624m, but there is still believed to be a debate over the finer details of its proposed introduction.

It remains unclear if the ‘anchoring’ will be linked to total TV income or the amount the bottom club receives from domestic broadcast deals only. Others are said to believe it should only be tied to wages, but there are fears that clubs would try to bypass the cap via offshore payments in this instance.