Premier League clubs to be banned from selling assets to themselves

LONDON, November 21, 2025 – The Premier League has voted for a major change to financial rules. Starting next season, clubs cannot sell assets like hotels or women’s teams to their own sister companies. This vote closes a major loophole used to meet old spending limits.

New Rules: Squad Cost Ratio (SCR)
Clubs narrowly voted in favour of replacing the old Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR). Instead, they will use the Squad Cost Ratio (SCR) system.

The Limit: Clubs must limit their spending on the team to 85% of their total revenue.

What Counts: This spending includes player and manager wages, transfer fees, and agents’ fees.

European Clubs: Teams playing in Europe must follow UEFA’s stricter limit of 70% of revenue.

The Vote: The new SCR system passed with 14 votes in favour.

Why the Change?
The previous rules allowed clubs to make quick money from non-football assets to cover large spending.

The Loophole: Last year, Chelsea sold two hotels to a sister company. Similarly, Everton sold their women’s team to their parent company. They did this to meet the old PSR rules.

The Ban: Consequently, the new SCR rules will only count money made from football operations. This immediately stops these types of sales.

The Goal: The Premier League stated the change will promote opportunity and bring its financial rules closer to European standards.

What Was Rejected?
Clubs also debated a stricter cap called “anchoring.” This rule would have limited the top clubs’ spending based on the revenue of the bottom club. However, clubs decisively rejected this proposal, with 12 votes against it.

The new rules, including a multi-year allowance that gives clubs some room to invest ahead of revenue, will take effect from the 2026-27 season.