L1 salary cap plans could pose major hurdle for Cats
squad size limit set to be imposed upon clubs, but it is the salary cap that will pose concerns for Sunderland.
Imposing this limit upon the Black Cats will severely affect their ability to recruit players that they may have been able to target in previous windows, given that they will now be working beneath a financial threshold.
While in the past the bigger clubs in the division were able to go out and recruit players earning far more than the League One average - because theirincomesallowedthemto without putting the club into jeopardy - this will now prove much harder.
It’s for that reason that the vastmajorityofclubsareyetto foray into the transfer market this season. to every player currently contracted by Sunderland for the purposes of the salary capmonitoring,makinginitial calculations easier and giving clubsachancetorebuildinthe market this summer.
Now in theory, this should benefit the Black Cats. Given they will have very few, if any, contracted players earning less than the League One average, it will see Sunderland given some extra flexibility to manoeuvre in the transfer marketintheshort-termgiven they not see their full wage bill count towards the cap.
However, the problem will come in the long-term.
If Sunderland wanted to negotiate a new contract with Aiden McGeady, for example, his new agreement and thereforewagewouldthenapplytowards the cap.
Simply put, it means Sunderland would go from having an average League One wage appliedforMcGeadytohisfull salary - which is presumably far higher and would place greater strain on the club as they look to abide by the salary cap. This could leave clubs struggling to retain some of their better players given they maystruggletooffercomparable terms due to the pressures of the salary caps.
While initially there were plans for a grace period, it’s nowunderstoodthattheseare somewhat off the table.
They have been replaced by the plan mentioned above, where every existing contract will be counted at the League One average rather than its true value for the first season.
A number of clubs have been vocal in their opposition of the plans, with Sunderland chief executive Jim Rodwell saying that while the Black Cats support the notion of increased financial controls, they are against a uniform salary cap.
“Sunderland absolutely agree that clubs should become more sustainable, but that doesn't mean a hard and fast wage cap,” he said.
“Sustainabilityisnotabout creating a level-playing field, it's about living within your means. If that means one club is larger than another, so be it. That's what sustainability means.”
Rodwell’s counterpart at Portsmouth, Mark Catlin, branded the proposals as an ‘absolue disgrace’.
“Should salary caps come in, those clubs with a 40,000 average attendance and generating huge commercial revenues will be only allowed to spendthesameasclubswitha 2,000attendanceandnocommercialincome,”heexplained.
“How can that be right? It is an absolute disgrace. I have been fighting this behind the scenes and will be fighting it even more strongly over the coming weeks and months.”
ButSunderlandandPortsmoutharethoughttobeinthe minority, with League One clubs set to vote to pass the plans. A two-thirds majority isrequired,anditisextremely likely that this threshold will be met.