Keith Wyness hits out as Man City fight against ‘making the league competitive’
Everton’s former chief Keith Wyness has hit out at “spurious arguments” from Man City and Man United against proposed new financial rules.
Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, the 67-year-old – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – claimed the anchoring proposals may make the Premier League “as competitive as possible”.
As per The Times (9 January), the PFA are preparing to oppose new plans for anchoring – which will limit club’s spending to five times the amount the bottom club receives in TV and prize money on transfers, wages and agents.
It is claimed the PFA have been in contact with City and United, who also oppose the proposals.
Two thirds of the Premier League’s 20 clubs must agree to bring in the new rules before they can be officially put in place.
Spending is currently linked to the revenue of clubs under Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR).
Man City slammed over ‘spurious’ fight against new Premier League rules
Wyness told Football Insider‘s Insider Track podcast: “This anchoring proposal is something I’m really energised about.
“This is the anchoring concept, and trying to bring in regulations to say the top clubs can’t spend any more than five times the amount of TV revenue the bottom club gets.
“It’s a regulation which will make the league as competitive as possible and stop the big disparity between the clubs.
“The PFA are saying this is a salary cap under a different name, I disagree completely.
“It’s still around £500million per year.
“That fight is going on. There’s got to be some re-alignment on this.
“Man City and Man United are using a pretty spurious argument against this. They say they will be handicapped against European clubs if they don’t get the chance to spend as much as they want.
“Yet we’ve seen clubs like PSG spend big and not do well, so it isn’t necessarily related to money.
“I think it’s a false argument.
“Players have got to take some responsibility, and realise that getting £300,000-a-week may be the top limit. That’s not bad.
“There has to be a recognition that the salaries are putting the game in danger. There’s got to be some sort of ceiling in salary.
“Of course, the owners will benefit. When the NFL brought in a salary cap, the values of the teams all went up.
“I do think there is real benefit in this anchoring situation, and the players should come with an open mind rather than trying to spoil things straight away.”
In other news, City “plan to accept cut-price Jack Grealish January offer” – expert.
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