Sunday 10 February 2013 11:47, UK
Stoke chairman Peter Coates expects the Premier League's new financial controls to be strictly implemented to the benefit of competing clubs.
Under the new guidelines, clubs whose total wage bill is more than £52m will only be allowed to increase their wages by £4m per season for the next three years, though that cap does not cover extra money coming in from increases in commercial or matchday income. Coates believes this will allow teams coming up from the npower Championship a better opportunity to sustain life among the elite without suffering boom and bust. "Promoted clubs are protected and have lots of headroom to increase their wage bill, so they are not going to be stopped trying to consolidate and grow, which is what we are trying to do all the time," he added. "At the top end, we have had two newcomers in the last 10 years, with Chelsea, who are now a top European club, and Manchester City, but you are talking about a billion pounds. "There are very few people who come into football and have a billion pounds, but you can put £100m a year in, which is a huge amount of money. "You are still allowed to spend over £100m so long as it is in a way which is secure money, ie: it is not here today and gone tomorrow."
