Sir Jim Ratcliffe makes ‘absurd’ remark about major change that could help Evangelos Marinakis

Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has criticised the financial anchoring proposal in the Premier League, which could potentially benefit clubs like Nottingham Forest, calling it “absurd”.

Ratcliffe’s United voted against the proposal which would put a cap on the amount clubs can spend on wages, transfer and agents’ fees. But Premier League clubs will trial it next season on a non-binding basis.

The existing financial regulations, which limit losses to £105m over a three-year period, will remain in place, but top-flight sides will test squad cost rules and top to bottom anchoring rules in shadow to enable the league to fully evaluate the system and complete consultation with stakeholders.

Anchoring, if formally introduced, would see teams restricted to spending a proportion – potentially up to five times – of the estimated £103m the bottom club receives in TV and prize money on transfers, wages and agents. This would help maintain competitive balance, possibly to the benefit of upwardly mobile clubs like Evangelos Marinakis’ Forest, who have inferior revenues compared to the established order.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Ratcliffe said: “(Anchoring) would inhibit the top clubs in the Premier League. And the last thing you want is for the top clubs in the Premier League not to be able to compete with Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, PSG – that’s absurd.

“And if it does, it then ceases to be the finest league in the world.”