Recently, the President of Bayer Leverkusen has proposed that European football should introduce a salary cap system to curb the absolute dominance of Premier League clubs in the transfer market.
Fernando Carro, President of Bayer Leverkusen, has put forward the idea of limiting the Premier League clubs' market monopoly through a salary cap. He advocates implementing a salary cap modeled after the NBA and warns that the Premier League's financial superiority may ultimately undermine the competitive level of the UEFA Champions League.
At the "Financial Future" Bloomberg Conference held in Frankfurt this weekend, Carro elaborated on his views, stating, "The Premier League is trying to become a benchmark product in Europe, and its influence even intends to surpass that of the UEFA Champions League." However, he emphasized that only the strict implementation of a salary cap system at the international level can be effective.
"I usually oppose regulation, but this time we have to fight for this," said the Spanish administrator, who is no stranger to complaining about the financial suppression from the Premier League. As early as 2021, he had expressed dissatisfaction when Bayer Leverkusen had its players poached by mid-table Premier League teams.
"This summer transfer window, we tried to sign a player, but eventually a Premier League promoted team was able to offer a higher transfer fee and salary than the top-four Bundesliga teams. The Premier League has far more funds and resources than other leagues, which is extremely disadvantageous to us."
Although UEFA has implemented the Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations to restrict clubs' spending based on their revenues, the financial gap between the Premier League and other European leagues continues to widen. According to UEFA data, the total revenue of the Premier League exceeded 7.1 billion euros during the 2023-2024 season, nearly twice that of the Bundesliga (3.6 billion euros) in the same period.
The salary cap system has been maturely implemented in American sports leagues such as the NBA and NFL, but these are all closed leagues, which are essentially different from the promotion and relegation system of European football. In terms of competition, Premier League clubs have not won the UEFA Champions League trophy since Manchester City's victory in 2023. However, last season, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United met in the Europa League final, and Chelsea claimed the Europa Conference League title, demonstrating the overall strength of Premier League teams in European competitions.
