Football chiefs hold new summit over £180m-a-year deal

English football chiefs have held fresh talks aimed at securing a landmark £180m-a-year deal to distribute some of the Premier League's wealth to the rest of the professional game.

Sky News has learnt that the chairs and chief executives of the Premier League, English Football League (EFL) and Independent Football Regulator (IFR) met on Monday in a bid to thrash out an agreement by the end of this week.

Football insiders said the EFL was due to hold a series of divisional meetings with clubs on Thursday, with the lower leagues' board set to meet again on Friday to decide whether to back the Premier League's latest proposal.

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The top flight is understood to have indicated its willingness to increase its offer from an original proposal of about £150m in additional annual solidarity payments to about £180m-a-year - although this increase would require a further vote of Premier League clubs to approve it.

One sticking point remains the duration of the proposed deal, with the EFL demanding that it lasts only five years, while the Premier League's original proposal envisaged a 10-year agreement.

People close to the situation said the Premier League would be prepared to compromise on the deal's length to somewhere between five and 10 years.

However, they also described the EFL's demand for additional payments of £207m-a-year as "a non-starter".

Rick Parry, the EFL chairman, is said to believe that the latest figure of £180m remains inadequate.

The difference of £135m - between annual payments of £180m and £207m - over a five-year period threatens to leave the so-called 'New Deal' unresolved with just days before English football's new watchdog publishes its inaugural State of the Game report.

That document, which will provide a detailed glimpse next week of the financial cliff-edges which exist within the sport during a period of both unprecedented wealth and turmoil, will intensify the pressure on the Premier League and EFL to reach a deal.

Talks between the two sides have been taking place on and off over a three-year period, with David Kogan, the IFR's chairman, impatient for them to agree a bilateral deal.

Mr Kogan has said that the use of its backstop powers would reflect "an utter failure" by English football's power-brokers.

"Going forward, it's to everyone's benefit for football to try to reach this understanding," he told an industry conference earlier this year.

If they cannot reach agreement, one or both of the Premier League and EFL would need to request that the IFR triggers the use of its backstop powers to impose a settlement on them.

However, the EFL could face having to wait a further protracted period before a deal is imposed, starving its clubs of the additional funding many say they are financially dependent upon.

The latest summit involving the game's top executives - excluding the Football Association - took place against a backdrop of toxicity which has engulfed the Premier League since Manchester City was found guilty by an independent commission on 115 charges of financial misconduct.

While the Abu Dhabi-owned club has launched an appeal, attention has turned to the spectrum of potential sanctions facing Manchester City, ranging from Premier league expulsion to a huge fine or series of points deductions.

The Premier League, EFL and IFR all declined to comment.

The top flight's most recent statement on the EFL talks did not quantify its offer but said last month that it remained engaged in talks about "a new strategic partnership with the EFL".

"Since a fair and generous proposal was formally offered to the EFL last month, discussions have continued between the leagues' Executives, and it was presented to EFL clubs last week.

"The Premier League remains committed to concluding a football-led solution as soon as possible so additional money can flow to EFL clubs this season."

In addition to the additional annual payments from the Premier League, it is proposing a new 'lifeboat fund' for lower league clubs which find themselves in financial distress.

The package also features a reduction in the parachute payments made to clubs relegated from the Premier League, as well as a pot of money ring-fenced for infrastructure investment at the EFL's 72 members.

The new funding would be in addition to funds already invested by the Premier League in the wider English game.

(c) Sky News 2026: Football chiefs hold new summit over £180m-a-year deal