Sources: Liverpool plot could lead to £250m payout as game-changing shake-up on the cards
The Premier League wants the EFL to commit to new sustainability rules in exchange for a greater cut of its TV cash in a move that borrows from the Project Big Picture plot once championed by Liverpool, Football Insider has learned.
The EFL informed clubs last week that it had received a formal offer from the Premier League regarding a potential revamp of the solidarity payments model.
That came after this site broke news last Friday (17 March) that there had been a breakthrough in talks between the two organisations after several months of negotiations.
Around 16 per cent of the top flight’s broadcast revenue is currently distributed to the lower leagues, with the bulk of that figure funnelled into parachute payments.
The EFL has long been angling for a 25 per cent cut – which would equate to an extra £250million per year – as well as the removal or scaling back of parachute payments.
The improved proposal submitted by the Premier League is believed to offer in excess of 20 per cent, although an exact figure is not yet known.
However, EFL clubs will not be able to spend the extra cash however they please if they do choose to accept the offer.
The Premier League wants guarantees that the money will be invested responsibly, and sources have told this site that could involve an annual fund reserved specifically for infrastructure spending.
That has shades of 2020’s Project Big Picture initiative, which was the brainchild of Liverpool and Man United as well as EFL chairman Rick Parry.
Championship clubs were offered £2m, League One clubs £750,000 and League Two sides £500,000 per year to spend on capex projects such as stadium and academy development under the terms of the proposal.
The Project Big Picture dossier, a copy of which has been seen by Football Insider, suggested a major downsizing of the parachute payments structure in exchange for a more equitable distribution system.
A clause which would have committed EFL clubs to housing more loan players from the Premier League was among the proposals too, as were major changes to the League Cup and FA Cup.
All of those ideas have featured in the negotiations between the Premier League and EFL this time around too.
The Premier League and EFL have been spurred on by the imminent introduction of a football regulator which will have the power to impose its own financial model if a deal cannot be agreed.
In other news, Klopp tells Liverpool board to offer exit-bound star new deal.