Premier League clubs will be banned from selling assets to themselves including hotels, training sites and even women’s teams as part of a major shake up to financial rules coming into force next season.
The move arrives after a tense vote in London on Friday, where clubs backed a new Financial Fair Play model based on Squad Cost Ratio (SCR). The measure scraped through with exactly 14 votes in favour and six against the bare minimum needed for new rules to pass.
Under the system, from the 2026-27 campaign, clubs must limit total squad spending to 85% of revenue, while sides playing in Europe will be capped at UEFA’s tougher 70% limit. Squad costs include wages, transfer fees and agents’ fees, meaning the new cap directly targets football spending rather than broader club finances.
Crucially, it shuts down the controversial loophole allowing clubs to sell major assets to sister companies to stay compliant. Chelsea flogged two hotels to a related company last year to stay within Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR), while Everton sold their women’s team to their parent group, and Aston Villa reportedly did similar.
From next season, assessments will only consider revenue directly tied to football operations, meaning no creative accounting with real estate or side divisions.
The Premier League also confirmed sustainability rules, long-term financial planning checks passed unanimously, but anchoring, a proposal designed to stop spending ballooning compared to the league’s bottom club, failed with only seven votes in favour.
A league statement said the new system aims to align closer with UEFA while keeping domestic competitiveness intact, promising clearer monitoring, fewer loopholes and a simpler focus on football costs. The model also includes in season sanctions, including fines for exceeding the 85% “Green Threshold” and automatic point deductions for breaching the “Red Threshold” set at 85% plus a rolling 30% spending allowance.
That gives clubs technical breathing room up to roughly 115% before punishments escalate. Breach that higher ceiling and it’s a minimum six-point deduction, rising by one point per £6.5m overspend.
The shift won’t worry commercial heavyweights like Manchester City or Liverpool, whose revenues dwarf most of the league. But smaller clubs including Bournemouth, Brentford, Brighton, Crystal Palace, Fulham and Leeds, voted against, arguing limits tied to revenue punish sides with smaller stadiums and less commercial pull.
Villa and Newcastle, frustrated by PSR restrictions on squad spending, backed change but may still feel hamstrung as clubs in European football must stick to the lower 70% ceiling.
Anchoring failed largely due to pushback from the top end of the table; City and United feared hitting the cap as revenues grow, while Arsenal and Liverpool backed it to prevent spending gaps from widening. The PFA also warned it could effectively turn into a wage cap opening the door to legal challenges.
The sustainability measures sailed through, helped by the fact clubs will soon face similar requirements from the incoming Independent Football Regulator, which will demand long-term financial planning, spending controls and measures to restore compliance if rules are breached.
The new landscape means clubs have time to adjust but loophole era accounting is on the way out, and future spending battles will be fought strictly on football terms, not real estate portfolios.
