Newcastle United vote on Premier League rule change that Man Utd & Aston Villa rejected

Premier League clubs have voted in favour of a spending cap proposal known as ‘anchoring’.

The proposal will now be discussed further at the Premier League’s AGM in June.

Anchoring would restrict clubs’ spending on transfers, wages and agents’ fees to a multiple of what the Premier League’s bottom club earned in television revenue. This comes after the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules were heavily criticised with Everton and Nottingham Forest each handed points deductions.

Newcastle United, who are close to maximum PSR allowance, did not risk any transfer spending in January as they look to avoid a similar fate. The Premier League’s rules are set to change for the 2025-26 season with squad cost controls that mirror UEFA’s FFP rules being introduced. That will see clubs in Europe limited to spending 70% of their total revenue on wages, transfer and agents’ fees while those not in European competitions are able to spend 85%.

According to The Times, clubs agreed in principle to impose a spending cap with only four clubs reported not to have voted in favour of the proposal. Manchester City, Manchester United and Aston Villa voted against while Chelsea abstained.

Anchoring is said to allow for a more even financial playing field amongst Premier League clubs with current PSR rules argued to benefit the so-called ‘big six’ and make it more difficult for clubs who generate less revenue to progress and compete higher up the division.

Any cap introduced would likely run alongside the incoming squad cost ratio model.

Critics of anchoring have voiced concerns of its potential impact on the Premier League’s financial dominance and ability to attract some of the world’s best players with a cap in place. The Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) have also been alerted by the proposal and its potential impact on players’ ability to earn.

After the proposal was given the green light by Premier League clubs, the PFA responded: “We’ll wait to see details of proposals but we would oppose any measure that would place a ‘hard’ cap on player wages.

“There is an established process in place to ensure proposals like this, which would directly impact our members, have to be properly consulted on.”