Liverpool and Manchester United, backed by other clubs, have been working on a Premier League reform plan that could grow to 18 clubs, while the League Cup and Community Shield are said to be scrapped.
This Sunday, the very serious Telegraph the announcement, at the initiative of Liverpool and Manchester United, of the two biggest achievements in English football, a project called Big Picture is likely to revolutionize the Premier League, this revolution would even already be supported by Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham. The main point of this project is the passage of the championship from 20 to 18 clubs within two years. At the same time, and always in order to relieve the calendar, the League Cup and the Community Shield would also be removed from the English calendar. This drastic decision, which will obviously have repercussions on the lower divisions, seems to already have the support of the boss of the English Football League (D2, D3, D4). In exchange for this, the Premier League could pay 25% of its revenues to the EFL each season, and a payment of 270ME to help it out of the crisis linked to covid19, while the English federation would pocket 120ME for its part. .
In addition to this 18-club Premier League, decisions will now be made with a vote limited to the nine clubs that have spent the most time in the English top flight, which is not currently the case. For now, nothing says that the project Big Picture will be adopted, but according to the English daily the financial state of the clubs of the lower divisions does not really leave room for any other solution than this revolution in the Premier League, and for this redistribution of powers in exchange for increased financial solidarity between the clubs. As a reminder, in the European Big Five, only the Bundesliga is currently limited to 18 clubs.
