Gary Neville has criticised Liverpool owner John Henry for urging the Premier League to introduce spending limits.
The Reds chief told the Liverpool Echo he believes such a measure would stop the English top-flight from becoming uncompetitive.
Henry wants to avoid the Premier League from becoming like some leagues in continental Europe, who are dominated by one or two teams every season.
“There are ever-increasing financial challenges in the Premier League,” he told the Liverpool Echo.
“The league itself is extraordinarily successful and is the greatest football competition in the world.
“But we’ve thought for some time there should be limits on spending so that the league doesn’t go the way of European leagues where one or two clubs annually have little competition.
“Excitement depends on competition and is the most important component of the Premier League.”
The story was also covered by The Times and shared on Twitter by journalist Martyn Ziegler.
He added it would be “interesting to see if PL follows UEFA’s scheme to limit spending on wages/transfers to 70%.”
In response, Neville said such a move would enable the “established elite” to “lock in their positions”.
“It must be resisted,” he added.
Opinion
There will no doubt be considerable debate here, but as things stand, it’s just Henry’s point of view.
Obviously if the Premier League went on to say they were looking at implementing such a scheme.
On one hand, a spending limit would – in theory – stop a monopoly or duopoly from forming.
On the other, there’s a risk that up-and-coming sides – say Newcastle United – risk becoming unable to break that glass ceiling.
To be fair, the Premier League hasn’t been too uncompetitive over the past 20-odd years.
From when it begun in 1992 up until 2004, Manchester United and Arsenal won every single title except one (Blackburn Rovers)
From 2005 onwards, we’ve had Chelsea, Manchester City, Leicester City and Liverpool triumph.
It’s not as though one team wins multiple titles in a row, or two teams have consistently triumphed every single year.
Maybe we don’t need to change anything, at least for the time being.
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