City Chief Executive Ferran Soriano and Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak
The big news out of England this morning surrounds spending caps and sanctions- not all that dissimilar from normal days I suppose. ESPN soccernet’s Harry Harris reports Premier League chiefs are considering the implementation of a spending cap – not a salary cap, which would be illegal under English law.
The cap would be implemented for the 2013/14 season and it is unknown what the ‘severe sanctions’ would be for teams that go over the limit. The officials are to meet on September 7th and the spending cap proposal will top the agenda. Surely there must be some skeptics you say, there’s at least one if Harris’ source is to be believed:
Currently, Manchester City are not convinced about the plans – particularly about the potential for hard-hitting sanctions – but other top clubs, such as Chelsea and Manchester United, are behind them. The source added: “Seven or eight clubs have already signed up to Financial Fair Play in Europe because they have to, including Manchester City, and this is a form of Financial Fair Play for the Premier League.”
At the current rate it will be a near miracle if the top Premier League clubs continue to comply (and not cheat) with the FFP rules in their current form. Meanwhile the torrid spending also undercuts the excellent work done by youth academies and development programs that produce some of the best talent in the country. Club’s would be better off relying on an organically created pipeline – not entirely organic but more so than trekking across Europe and buying stars – that’s seen the likes of Alex Oxlaide-Chamberlain, Jack Wilshere and Gareth Bale emerge in recent years.
This subject weaves into an article written by the Guardian’s David Lacey this morning. Robin van Persie, Daniele De Rossi and Eden Hazard opted for less money – ie. turned down Manchester City – for a chance a chance to start regularly. It’s possible a combination of FFP and the desire of top flight players to play often rather than joining a team stacked with world class player’s, could reign in the spending that has doomed the financial health of clubs in England and across Europe.
The combination of a spending cap in 2013/14 coupled with the continued reinforcement of FFP could change the financial dynamics of football for the better if properly implemented. For England, the smaller club’s would benefit greatly, as the revenue generated by the top club’s would allow them to continue to outspend their rivals based on the size of their market if a spending limit wasn’t introduced.
What do you guys think – would a spending cap produce change for the better?
Canada
Duane Rollins on Paul Mariner’s difficult decision in the lead up to TFC’s CCL game against Santos.
Set piece plays are hurting the Whitecaps.
England
RvP will make his first start for United this weekend.
The Nuri Sahin saga is almost over (please be over) as Liverpool look to have won his services.
Chelsea have completed the signing of Spanish defender Cesar Azpilicueta from Marseille.
Sunderland get Steven Fletcher from Wolves in a deal that could be worth £14m.
Aguero called up by Argentina despite knee injury.
Balram Chainrai announces plan to finalise takeover of Portsmouth.
West Ham complete Matt Jarvis signing.
Lambert bans laptops and mobiles at Villa.
Giroud: I’m not direct RvP replacement.
Germany
Borussia Dortmund are heavily fancied to hold off the threat of Bayern Munich and win their third title in a row according to Raphael Honigstein.
The Bundesliga is on track to become a dominant league.
Munich’s boss is proud of the league’s ability to remain financially viable.
Italy
Zanetti ‘happy and proud’ after 800th Inter appearance.
Juventus to face Parma without injured Buffon.
Can Bologna’s Youngsters Replicate Last Season’s Achievements?
Zapata eagerly anticipating AC Milan debut.
Spain
La Liga weekend preview.
Atletico star Falcao eyes La Liga crown.
Alex Song is willing to play anywhere for Barcelona.
Does Michu’s move signal a large problem for La Liga?
Bits and Bobs
David Beckham scored off a corner last night.
Raheem Sterling’s excellent performance against Hearts.
The Valdes gaffe.
Sure, start a spending cap but make the cap that low that every club is able to reach it. If you just have a spending cap that only 4-5 clubs can reach, then you just trying to punish City.
If the purpose of the spending cap is to remove the gap between City and United, then you should also remove the gap between Stoke and United. Fair is fair…..
You make good points Richard.
If they do it like FFP, they could make it so you can only spend a certain amount based on previous years profits/losses/revenues/whichever. As such a United would be capped higher based on their revenue, but their massive debt would probably take it down some.
Thus there would be a few factors, such as how much money you bring in, how much you spend, how much debt you have, etc that would determine how much you could spend.
A well run team with low debt, decent revenues and low expenses – but *not* a very rich owner who can bankroll things – would have a higher spending cap than a team with a very rich owner, but low revenues vs high expenses and/or debt.
Honestly it shoudn’t be just the EPL but UEFA in general should be considering it.