Premier League debates new EFL agreement as regulator looms | Money news

The Premier League plans to submit new proposals to its clubs for a financial agreement with the English Football League (EFL) as early as next month.

Sky News has learned that a meeting of top flight shareholders on November 22 is expected to see discussion about a range of new offers for the rest of the professional football pyramid.

The meeting comes a month after the government introduced legislation paving the way for the creation of an independent football regulator that will have the power to impose sweeping financial agreements on the sport.

Insiders said the Premier League had assembled a high-profile team of advisers, including Global Counsel, the lobbying firm founded by Lord Mandelson, to advise them on issues such as the new regulator.

One pointed out that the formal agenda for the Nov. 22 meeting has not yet been set.

However, several club managers said they expected a release amid growing demand from some Premier League shareholders to present a revised deal to the EFL board, chaired by Rick Parry.

“Doing a deal now that the EFL accepts would provide a five-year solution, meaning it would be resolved in the medium term and beyond the reach of the regulator,” a senior executive at a top club said.

“A sensible deal is more likely to be supported by 14 clubs.” [the requisite majority] now,” they added.

Lengthy discussions in the Premier League over an £836m deal to distribute a portion of commercial revenues between the Championship, League One and League Two came to a standstill in March due to a stalemate between the clubs.

The 20 top clubs, including Aston Villa, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur, had spent over a year working out several versions of a “New Deal” that included proposals for a higher levy on player transfers.

The most recent draft, which was never officially submitted to the EFL, called for an immediate payment of £44m to the lower leagues, followed by a further £44m within a few months.

However, that £88 million would be intended as a loan to be repaid by the EFL over a period of more than six years.

The Premier League had decided to make the vote independent of any conditions attached to wider financial reform of English football, alarming a number of top owners.

A £925m deal appeared to be close at some point in the autumn of 2023.

However, last December, Premier League chief executive Richard Masters told clubs that talks with the EFL would be temporarily halted due to internal disagreements over the scope and structure of the proposed deal.

Next month’s meeting is planned to address many of the pressing issues facing English football’s elite, including possible changes to the rules on related party transactions following Manchester City’s recent arbitration case.

Both the Premier League and its reigning champions emerged victorious from the ruling, adding to the feeling of civil war in English football’s top flight.

Allegations that Manchester City committed 115 breaches of Premier League financial rules are being heard in a separate case that is still pending.

Changes to the treatment of shareholder loans to clubs, which would affect a significant number of Premier League teams, will also be discussed next month.

The Premier League declined to comment on Saturday.