Spending cap plan wins Premier League backing despite trio voting against | first division

A majority of first division Clubs have voted to explore measures that would put a cap on player spending, with only Manchester United, Manchester City and Aston Villa voting against.

Plans for a new “anchoring” concept that would limit spending on wages, transfer fees and agent fees to a multiple of the television revenue generated by the bottom club in the league were at the center of the latest meeting of the shareholder clubs. If approved, anchoring would be a key component of the league's proposed new financial rules, but the deal is not guaranteed to close.

Sixteen clubs voted in favor of subjecting the anchoring proposals to a full economic and legal analysis. In addition to the three negative votes, Chelsea abstained. The passage of the motion gave a strong indication of support for anchoring, but also confirmed that obstacles remain. Concerns have been raised that anchoring could breach competition law and the players' union issued a strong warning over the proposals.

The Professional Footballers' Association said it would “wait to see more details” but insisted that “we have always been clear that we would oppose any measure that imposes a 'hard' cap on player salaries.” “There is a process in place to ensure that proposals like this, which would directly impact our members, are properly consulted.”

The Guardian understands that talks between the league and the PFA are expected to form part of the analysis that will take place over the next month. Although a spending multiple has yet to be determined, it is understood to be four to five times the latter club's television revenue, which last season was the £103.6m earned by Southampton. Premier League sources have argued that this would not count as a hard spending limit, because if the league's revenue grew, so would the spending margin.

The league says further details of the rules will be worked out after economic and legal analysis, leaving open the possibility that clubs will be allowed to spend more than the allocated figure, as long as it is offset by sales.

The Premier League hopes to vote on a full set of new financial regulations at its Annual General Meeting in June. The league has agreed to move forward with controls that limit clubs' spending on player-related costs up to 85% of their income (or 70% in the case of clubs that play in Europe). These “squadron cost indices” would go along with anchoring, if approved.