As the Premier League clubs prepare to vote on a new ‘salary cap’ rule known as ‘anchoring’ we’ve crunched some already-crunched numbers to work out exactly why Chelsea and the Manchester clubs are in a state of panic.
Under the proposed system, clubs would be limited to spending no more than five times the broadcast and prize revenue earned by the team finishing last in the Premier League on their ‘football squad costs’, which include wages, amortisation (transfer fees spread over duration of contract) and agents’ fees.
Based on the 2024/2025 prize money table, that would mean a spending limit of £546m for Premier League clubs.
Anchoring would work on top of the squad-cost ratio rules (SCR), which could replace the existing profit and sustainability rules which permit losses of £105m over three years. SCR limits spending to 85% of revenue.
To be approved, the proposal would require support from at least 14 of the 20 clubs, and unsurprisingly, Manchester United chief Sir Jim Ratcliffe is dead set against the idea.
“[Anchoring] would inhibit the top clubs in the Premier League,” Ratcliffe said. “And the last thing you want is for the top clubs in the Premier League not to be able to compete with Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, PSG – that’s absurd. And if it does, it then ceases to be the finest league in the world.”
Is that “the last thing you want”? Answers on a postcard. It’s undoubtedly the last thing United want, along with Manchester City and Chelsea, who would now be in breach if the rules were in place this season.
Well, we don’t quite know. The wages and amortisation figures we’ve used from the brilliant Swiss Ramble are from the 2023/2024 season, along with the agent and intermediary payments from 2024/2025, but it gives us a decent idea, so we’ve ranked Premier League teams (excluding the relegated/promoted trios) from lowest season expenditure to highest.
The proposal is for a second breach to be dealt with by a six-point deduction, with an additional point for every £6.5m spent over the £546m mark, so we’ve also worked out just how many points the three offenders would have been docked.
17) Brentford
Wages: £114.4m
Agent fees: £14.8m
Transfer amortisation: £35.6m
Total expenditure: £164.8m
16) Crystal Palace
Wages: £133.7m
Agent fees: £11.9m
Transfer amortisation: £46m
Total expenditure: £191.6m
15) Brighton
Wages: £146.2m
Agent fees: £16.5m
Transfer amortisation: £39.4m
Total expenditure: £202.1m
14) Bournemouth
Wages: £136.2m
Agent fees: £16.4m
Transfer amortisation: £61.6m
Total expenditure: £214.2m
13) Wolves
Wages: £141.9m
Agent fees: £13.5m
Transfer amortisation: £64.2m
Total expenditure: £219.6m
12) Fulham
Wages: £154.8m
Agent fees: £12.8m
Transfer amortisation: £57.4m
Total expenditure: £225m
11) Everton
Wages: £156.6m
Agent fees: £9.2m
Transfer amortisation: £64.6m
Total expenditure: £230.4m
10) Nottingham Forest
Wages: £166.4m
Agent fees: £13m
Transfer amortisation: £61.7m
Total expenditure: £241.1m
9) West Ham
Wages: £161m
Agent fees: £19m
Transfer amortisation: £83.4m
Total expenditure: £263.4m
8) Newcastle United
Wages: £218.7m
Agent fees: £24.4m
Transfer amortisation: £96.7m
Total expenditure: £339.8m
7) Aston Villa
Wages: £252m
Agent fees: £25.1m
Transfer amortisation: £96.5m
Total expenditure: £373.6m
6) Tottenham
Wages: £221.9m
Agent fees: £18.4m
Transfer amortisation: £135.8m
Total expenditure: £376.1m
5) Arsenal
Wages: £327.8m
Agent fees: £22.8m
Transfer amortisation: £139m
Total expenditure: £489.6m
4) Liverpool
Wages: £386.1m
Agent fees: £20.8m
Transfer amortisation: £114.5m
Total expenditure: £521.4m
3) Manchester United
Wages: £364.7m
Agent fees: £33m
Transfer amortisation: £187m
Total expenditure: £584.7m
Points deduction: 11
2) Chelsea
Wages: £338m
Agent fees: £60.4m
Transfer amortisation: £190.1m
Total expenditure: £588.5m
Points deduction: 12
1) Manchester City
Wages: £412.6m
Agent fees: £52.1m
Transfer amortisation: £165.1m
Total expenditure: £629.8m
Points deduction: 23