Player salaries are increasing, will the Premier League implement a salary cap?
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00:00Wages in European football are at an all-time high.
00:05The richest clubs can pay the game's best players astronomical figures.
00:10But is this good for the competitiveness of the game?
00:13And can anything be done to stop it?
00:20Hello and welcome to Football Now from Doha.
00:23Since its inception in 1992, the collective wages of Premier League players has increased
00:29by nearly 3,000%.
00:30And as time goes on, it seems that the fees the big clubs can offer the top players is
00:36near limitless.
00:38The league's current highest earner is Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne, earning a staggering
00:43400,000 euros a week.
00:45So let's take a look at how we got to these figures, and will the bubble ever burst?
00:51We look at wages now, right?
00:52We look at, look at how, I mean, at 1990, John Barnes is the highest paid player in
00:56English football, 10 grand a week.
00:58Then we move on to Dennis Bergkamp, 22,000 pounds a week with Arsenal.
01:04Then we get to Roy Keane, 52 grand a week in 1999-2000 after United won the treble.
01:10And then we move up to Sol Campbell, 2001, 100,000, 500,000 for Alexis Sanchez, 250,000
01:17a week for Yaya Toure.
01:18Who could have predicted the exponential rise?
01:21Where is it going to be in 10 years' time?
01:23Football has shown that you cannot predict where the mark is going to be in a year's
01:27time, let alone in five years' time.
01:29The top clubs will always be front-runners to sign the best players.
01:33But how can the Premier League help level the playing field?
01:36Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parrish recently called for a salary cap to be introduced,
01:41to put a ceiling on how much players can earn.
01:43We've seen examples of spending limits work in other sports.
01:47Four of the USA's top sports operate under a salary cap, while in motorsport, Formula
01:51One imposed a maximum budget that teams could spend on developing their car during a season.
01:57What types of restrictions are thought to have had a positive impact?
02:00The spending cap in Formula One is an attempt, really, to bring all of the teams closer together
02:05in terms of the financial weights, really, that they're able to throw at the sport.
02:10Even fairly recently, up until the budget cap was introduced, the top teams especially
02:14could spend five, six, seven times more than the teams further down the grid over the course
02:20of a season.
02:21So the budget cap is around $135-140 million for the season.
02:25We had Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren, Aston Martin, all of which, at various points in
02:30the season, were the second quickest car, or had the second quickest car.
02:34And there were times during the season where that balance of power seemed to almost, the
02:38order changed on a race-by-race basis.
02:41It was really exciting, actually.
02:42It was probably one of the most competitive seasons behind Red Bull, behind the winners
02:46that we've ever had.
02:47It just got lost because you just had one team that was winning everything.
02:52So from that perspective, hopefully that is the budget cap having its effect, and if
02:56that is the case, then that's great.
02:57That's really good for the sport.
02:59Well, we can see how the concept works in other sports, but could the same be said if
03:05it was applied to European football?
03:07It may not be as simple, due to how all-encompassing and international the sport is on a global
03:13scale.
03:14I mean, look, it could benefit some clubs.
03:16Some clubs, you know, there is a strong argument for it.
03:19But same as in any other industry, you'll just see, you'll probably see a talent drain
03:23because there's going to be one outlier.
03:25Unless this is enforced across all of every body within FIFA, or every league within FIFA's
03:31jurisdiction, you're going to see a talent drain in football.
03:33You're going to see players going to wherever the best market is.
03:36So I mean, you're talking about something which has to be far-reaching.
03:41It's got to go to every corner of the world.
03:43Mexico is a good example because for years, players have always been paid well there.
03:48So they might think, well, we only have to pay a certain amount more than what the Premier
03:51League and La Liga and Bundesliga is paying to attract the best players and we market
03:56our league accordingly.
03:57So, if a salary cap isn't the answer, how do football associations finally balance the
04:02ability for teams to compete for the top players, while also spending within their means?
04:08The Premier League's profit and sustainability rules are supposed to be a deterrent.
04:12But it's not enough for some clubs like Everton and Nottingham Forest, who have both recently
04:16received points deductions as a result of breaking them.
04:20The UK government passed a football governance bill in Parliament because of this.
04:24The legislation will grant powers to a body, independent of both government and football
04:29authorities, to monitor clubs in England's top five tiers.
04:33Largely, it is supported, but there's an interesting dynamic between the Premier League and a prospective
04:40independent regulator.
04:42The Premier League have always argued that they can self-govern and regulate and the
04:45independent regulator will change the dynamic in certain key issues that usually would be
04:53dealt with internally within the Premier League.
04:55So, one is governance, two is new ownership and this so-called definition of control.
05:02And therefore, an independent regulator may construe the eligibility of a prospective
05:07owner differently to how the Premier League does.
05:11And then the third aspect may be down to financial rules and any potential punishments
05:16and clubs becoming sustainable and that will be a big thing.
05:19So I expect the regulator to help English football and now the independent regulator
05:25will have to be more transparent, which means we ourselves should start to see more clearly
05:32the process behind football and that's a positive thing for integrity and transparency that
05:40should mean that football becomes smoother and cleaner and evolves with modern times.
05:49The future of salaries in football is certainly a hot topic at the moment, but that's all
05:53we have time for this week.
05:55Do let us know your thoughts using the hashtag Football Now Salary Cap and we'll see you
06:00next time.
06:01Bye for now.