Tottenham and Arsenal’s stances emerge as £105m plot could blow Premier League wide open

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Tottenham and Arsenal have outlined their positions with regards to one of the most significant behind-the-scenes battle in Premier League history.

Recent years have seen umpteen regulatory issues emerge in English football, with the Premier League‘s Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) the main bone of contention.

Everton and Nottingham Forest have both been penalised for breaching PSR, while Man City and Chelsea have their own well-documented issues in the same sphere.

Leicester City meanwhile were able to escape the clutches of the Premier League’s PSR enforcers earlier this year on a technicality, raising questions about the regulatory structures in place.

Arsenal and Tottenham have managed to steer clear of PSR issues, with their respective owners’ sustainability-first approaches meaning they have never been close to a breach.

However, the two North London clubs are as involved as any of their peers when it comes to matters of Premier League governance, and perhaps more so given the influence that their wealth affords them.

And they have made their stances clear on the story of the day involving the club at the heart of the behind-the-scenes drama in the Premier League, Man City.

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Spurs and Arsenal have made their feelings about Man City case clear

Man City’s 115 charges case has made the most headlines and entered into mainstream discourse, but the reigning champions countersuit against the Premier League has not garnered as much attention.

City have taken the Premier League to the arbitration courts with a challenge to their associated party transaction (APT) rules.

The rules, introduced in the wake of the Newcastle United takeover in October 2021, determine that commercial deals signed by clubs must be scrutinised for fair market value.

Ostensibly, the rules are in place to prevent clubs from striking sponsorship deals with companies associated with their owners at artificially inflated prices in order to bypass PSR.

There have been conflicting reports, but several major outlets have suggested that City have succeeded in the case against the Premier League, although to what extent has not been outlined.

In terms of Tottenham and Arsenal, they have already made their feelings about the APT rules perfectly clear.

As the removal of APT rules would potentially allow state-backed clubs to funnel in cash via the backdoor and further challenge the existing elite, TBR Football understands Spurs and Arsenal support the current system and have expressed their positions privately.

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The Premier League’s £105m loss limit in detail

Currently, Arsenal, Spurs and the rest of the Premier League are allowed to lose a maximum of £105m over a rolling three-year period.

Significantly, the bulk of those losses must be covered by the clubs’ owners, ENIC and Stan Kroenke.

Certain costs, such as infrastructure of youth investment, are exempt from the calculation.

From next season, the Premier League are expected to move to a new UEFA-style model which will limit clubs to spending 85 per cent of revenue on wages, transfers and agent fees.