Ex-Everton and Aston Villa chief Keith Wyness: Premier League's proposed EFL deal to be rejected
The Premier League's new proposed deal for funding clubs in the EFL is unlikely to get past this week's vote.
That is according to former Everton chief executive and ex-Premier League board member Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who believes that Thursday's poll will not get the necessary number of teams on side.
The 20 Premier League clubs are set to vote on the new deal, which proposes £1.5billion in funding to the EFL across a 10-year period, and will need 14 clubs in agreement for it to be taken to the next stage.
Wyness believes that the planned reduction to parachute payments will provide the major stumbling block, as he feels that clubs in the bottom half will be alarmed by the reduction in financial security.
Teams who are relegated into the Championship can currently receive up to £100million of funding across a three-year period, something the new proposal is aiming to significantly reduce.
A £20m lifeboat fund is also set to be introduced for any EFL club that enters administration, while the deal is caveated by the ruling that each EFL club must spend 20 per cent of their new funding on infrastructure.
Premier League clubs afraid of losing 'safety net'
Everton’s former chief Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – believes that Premier League clubs will be afraid of losing the "safety net" that their parachute payments provide.
He expects that to be the biggest "bone of contention" for top-flight sides, and believes the proposal could fall through on that alone.
Speaking on the latest edition of Football Insider's Inside Track podcast, the Scottish businessman explained why it is such a contentious point.
"They're going to be talking about reducing parachute payments, and I think that's where there'll be a bone of contention," he said.
"A lot of Premier League clubs, particularly the bottom 10, will be thinking, well, hang on, I want that safety net there. It's always been good to give us the best chance of getting back up. And so if that's reduced, I've got a problem there.
"There's also talk of a lifeboat fund. And what they mean by that is clubs that get in financial trouble; this is there to try and protect them.
"There's got to be ways to do that rather than having the Premier League paying for a lifeboat fund, which I don't necessarily agree with in principle.
"So the biggest bone of contention for the Premier League clubs will be the parachute payments, and that may be the factor it loses out on."
Arsenal, Chelsea and Man City to be hit hardest if deal is passed
Former PGMOL chief Keith Hackett told Football Insider on Monday that any money cascading from the Premier League down into the EFL is hugely "important."
He made it clear that clubs lower down the pyramid would "struggle" without the necessary funding from above.
The Premier League's proposed new deal will see the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City hit the hardest, as they are currently among the wealthiest clubs in terms of revenue.
The deal is structured in a way that would see each Premier League team contribute a different sum, based on their own revenues and takings.