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Manchester United have been accused of voting against anchoring rules as they are concerned about how Newcastle United and Aston Villa will continue to improve. The Red Devils voted against the idea of a new spending cap but were overruled by the majority of the Premier League.
The spending cap, otherwise known as anchoring, will see top teams restricted to spending a proportion of the amount that the bottom club received in TV money. The limitations apply to transfers, wages and agent fees, with the goal of ensuring that the Premier League remains competitive and is not dominated by the wealthiest teams.
Seventeen out of the 20 top-flight clubs are said to have green-lighted the proposal, with further conversations to be held in June before coming into effect from the 2025/26 campaign. United are one of the three sides that voted against anchoring, with Villa and Manchester City also said to be opposing the plans.
The Red Devils’ decision is claimed to be because they are fearful of the regulations' impact on how competitive English teams can be in Europe, but financial expert Kieran Maguire feels that it is likely to be because of how their rivals can develop instead.
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He told Football Insider: “The opposition of some clubs such as Manchester United to the anchoring rules seems somewhat strange. Based on last year’s figures with Southampton, Premier League clubs could still be allowed to spend over £600million each season. That is very competitive with the rest of Europe.
“Clubs from La Liga have their own cost control rules, and yet it doesn’t stop Real Madrid or Barcelona from competing in Europe. So I think these reservations that the bigger clubs like Man United have are far more to do with their fear of extra competition from ambitious clubs such as Newcastle and Villa.”
It remains to be seen how the anchoring will impact the Premier League and if English sides are impacted when it comes to European football, as United suspects that it will.
Nonetheless, Villa remain the only English team left competing on the European stage currently and Unai Emery’s side are now one of the favourites to win the Europa Conference League.
Manchester City and Arsenal were both dumped out of the Champions League in the quarter-finals last month, after United had exited in the group stage.
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