29 February 2024 , 15:31
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Premier League clubs have been given a final warning to reach a financial deal with the EFL - or have one imposed upon them.
Lucy Frazer, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, spelt out the ultimatum to the 20 top flight clubs to get their act together or the regulator will do it.
Prem clubs met in London on Thursday to try and broker a new £900m agreement with the EFL but nothing was voted on, although they hope they will present a deal at their next get together on March 11. Frazer promised the new Football Governance Bill will go through Parliament in this session and set the clock ticking.
She told the Financial Times Business of Football summit: “It’s in the interest of clubs in the Premier League and the Premier League as a whole and EFL for football to sort this out. They can come to a deal that works for them and that is the right solution.
“If they don’t, the Regulator will. It’s in their interests to do this. We don’t want this to be an issue for the IR. We have been clear that football should resolve the issues in football. We want the Premier League and the EFL to come to a deal.
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“The Bill is very much nearing the end. It’s really important we get this right because football matters so much to communities. It’s been heart of communities for 200 years.”
Sky Andrew considers big switch
Elsewhere, Sky Andrew is considering switching from being a football agent to become a sporting director. Andrew, one of football’s best known and experienced agents, has warned football will “combust” because transfer fees and contracts are spiralling out of control.
Highly-respected Andrew is getting fed-up of the business where unlicensed and unqualified agents are doing big-money deals which leads to cash disappearing from the game. But even more importantly, Andrew says other agents are “running rings” round clubs because they know how the system works.
Sky Andrew is considering switching from being a football agent to become a sporting director (skyandrewofficial)Now Andrew is seriously considering switching sides and taking a job with a club and he believes that would give them a huge advantage because he knows the inner workings of transfers and contract negotiations.
Andrew, who is a licensed FIFA legacy agent, has worked on some of football’s biggest deals including taking former England defender Sol Campbell from Tottenham to their bitter rivals Arsenal on a Bosman-style free transfer.
Andrew said: “The skill of negotiating deals, transfers and player contracts is not easy. It’s easy to get it wrong by not structuring deals properly and that can cost clubs millions in wages and transfer fees.
“Some agents are running rings round clubs because they don’t have to deal with people who have been agents and understand the inner business that exists in football.
“I am considering making the switch to a sporting director role because clubs need experienced agents to do the role and create a fair situation where clubs do not see money simply going out of the game because transfer fees are exaggerated and player wages are not structured to encourage performance.
”The game will combust if transfers and wages are not structured properly. Clubs cannot continue to keep paying huge transfer fees for players without a success performance element, because they are then stuck with players they can’t move on.
“If big money players perform and those on top money perform then everybody is happy.”
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