The Premier League is on the brink of a significant financial overhaul, with representatives from all 20 clubs set to cast their votes on three proposals at a shareholder meeting on Friday. It’s been a decade since the league last implemented financial measures with the most recent model, profit and sustainability (PSR), attracting a fair share of criticism.

Under the current system, Premier League clubs are permitted to incur losses of up to £105million over a three-year span, although some clubs have found loopholes in this system. Others have faced penalties, with Nottingham Forest and Everton both having points deducted in the past. In response, three new proposals have been tabled that could dramatically alter the Premier League’s landscape, depending on each club’s vote.

The proposed changes include top-to-bottom anchoring (or simply anchoring), squad cost rules (SCR), and sustainability and system resilience (SSR).

SCR is a system already utilised in UEFA competitions, where a percentage of revenue can be allocated to player expenses, while SSR is a rule designed to ensure that short-term and long-term financial commitments can be fulfilled.

Anchoring, however, is the final and most contentious proposal. It sets a limit on how much a football club can spend on wages and amortisation from transfer fees, which is determined based on the poorest club in the division.

The cap is then five times the amount distributed to the poorest club in the division, effectively setting a spending limit for all 20 clubs.

This essentially imposes a sort of wage cap on the division, allowing it to grow only with the revenue generated by the Premier League as a whole. The proposal has been met with both support and criticism, with potential for legal disputes if it is implemented.

For these measures to be approved, 14 out of the 20 clubs would need to vote in favour. This could lead to some conflict due to the impact on each member and their own position, particularly regarding whether anchoring will be approved.

It is believed that Manchester United and Manchester City are opposed to the proposal. According to The Athletic, Arsenal are also expected to vote against anchoring but may vote for SCR if the previous proposal is rejected.

The report further suggests that Liverpool, Aston Villa, Everton, Sunderland and Burnley are likely to support all three proposals.

The primary objection from the division’s larger clubs regarding anchoring centres on it being an extra restriction that limits their expenditure, alongside existing squad cost regulations they must follow in UEFA tournaments.

United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe expressed his position clearly when discussing the proposals with Bloomberg in 2024.

He stated: “(Anchoring) would inhibit the top clubs in the Premier League, and the last thing you want is for the top clubs in the Premier League not to be able to compete with Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, PSG.

“That’s absurd. And if it does, it then ceases to be the finest league in the world.”

The Times revealed that up to eight Premier League clubs harbour concerns about altering the financial regulations at Friday’s shareholder gathering.

With eight teams already anticipated to vote in a particular manner on anchoring, this leaves a further 12 undecided going into the meeting. The ball is now in the court of the clubs to decide their stance on the latest proposals.