City's counter-proposal

Manchester City have put forward a revised proposal to soften the transfer levy increase at the centre of the Premier League's landmark £1.5 billion New Deal with the English Football League, according to a new report. The move comes as clubs wrangle over how to fund a ten-year framework intended to underpin the financial sustainability of the professional game in England.

Under the current proposal, Premier League clubs are being asked to raise the existing domestic transfer levy from four percent to six percent. City's alternative would restrict the hike to a single percentage point, taking the levy to five percent rather than the two-point rise on the table.

At least one other Premier League club is said to endorse City's revised approach. A further club has reportedly proposed a separate alternative: a cap on the total amount of revenue the higher levy would raise before it reverted to the existing four percent.

Big six discussions

According to Sky News, some members of the so-called big six — Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur — have held discussions in recent days about modifying the proposal. The New Deal itself is structured as a sliding-scale arrangement, with the first annual payment to the EFL expected to be below £100 million when the 2026-27 season begins, rising to £164 million by the third year and remaining at that level through the remainder of the ten-year period.

Separately, a new lifeboat fund worth £20 million is proposed as part of the deal to assist EFL clubs that fall into administration.

The redistribution agreement has been in discussion for over three years.

Separate from the 115 case

Sky News makes clear there is no suggestion that City oppose the funding settlement in principle. The club and the Premier League are still awaiting the outcome of their case involving 115 alleged breaches of financial rules brought in 2023, though the transfer levy proposal is understood to be a separate matter entirely from that ongoing dispute.

The final structure must command a 14-vote majority among Premier League clubs to pass.