Exclusive: Liverpool set to make £148m decision as FSG reveal PSR paradox

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However, for FSG, the spending rules will likely dictate the scale of the eventual return on investment they are targeting at Anfield.And on Friday, Werner, Kennedy or whoever Fenway have tasked with representing them at the latest Premier League shareholders’ meeting will cast their vote on the future of the spending rules.Liverpool’s budget under proposed new PSR systemAt this week’s meeting, Liverpool will vote on the future of PSR, with two new proposals tabled by the Premier League:Squad Cost Ratio RuleTop-to-bottom AnchoringThe existing PSR system – which limits clubs to losing a maximum of £105m over a rolling three-year period, with adjustments for academy, infrastructure and women’s team spending – is also the agenda.In Europe, a Squad Cost Ratio system already exists. However, since the Reds are likely to play in Europe more often than not, it’s UEFA’s cap, not the Premier League’s, which is their focus.Liverpool’s actual spend in 2023-24, assuming that around 75 per cent of their wage bill was attributable to the first team, was around £404.5m – £289.5m in wages and £115m in transfer amortisation, which also encompasses agents’ fees.And while, as mentioned, UEFA’s is a calendar-year test, the illustrative figures above show that Liverpool clearly have plenty of headroom under both the European rules and their would-be domestic equivalent.Even accounting for their enormous spending in the summer of 2025, the margin for error is still huge.

And Liverpool, one of the world’s biggest brands, earn a lot.Liverpool revenue chart Credit: Adam Williams/Rousing The Kop/GRV MediaThe suggestion from experts such as Liverpool University’s Kieran Maguire, therefore, is that FSG will likely want to pull up the drawbridge behind Liverpool, so that ambitious, well-resourced clubs – the likes of Newcastle United and Aston Villa – cannot consistently compete on the pitch without breaching the rules.By extension, if rival clubs are limited in what they can spend, Liverpool themselves will be forced to spend less to keep pace, which will deliver consistent profits and, eventually, a bigger sale price for FSG.We’ll hear from Maguire on an adjacent subject shortly.Top-to-bottom anchoring meanwhile would tie club spending to a multiple of what the Premier League’s bottom-placed club earns in central financial distributions, i.e., prize money. At present, it looks like a 5x multiple, which – based on 2023-24’s figures – would have set the limit at £546m.So, again, even though the variance between the Premier League-proposed Squad Cost Ratio limit and top-to-bottom anchoring is around £148m, Liverpool would have ample room for manoeuvre under all the systems on the slate.READ MORE: Liverpool surpass Manchester United’s commercial income for the first time in a generationThe anchoring proposal has been met with resistance by player unions, agencies and several clubs, with potential legal challenges on the horizon.At this stage, it looks unlikely to proceed.

The two Manchester clubs and Chelsea are opposed, Arsenal’s scepticism appears to be growing, Newcastle United, Aston Villa, and Nottingham Forest are against it for obvious reasons, and recent reports suggest that Brighton, Bournemouth, Brentford and a handful of others are leaning towards ‘no’.Rousing The Kop will bring more reaction and analysis to Friday’s vote.FSG’s stance on spending rules revealed in Getafe takeover collapseElsewhere on Planet FSG, Liverpool’s owners’ masterplan to take over a club in Spain appears to have hit the buffers once againThe American regime have held discussions with at least five clubs in the country, following aborted discussions about buying French side Bordeaux in the summer.10. A Qatari group, JTA, are said to be closing in on a deal having secured the blessing of the club president, Angel Torres.READ MORE: FSG’s quest to launch a multi-club empire with Liverpool at the helmIn a report by Spanish outlet Marca, one of the reasons that Fenway decided against proceeding was La Liga’s Squad Cost Limit – the league’s equivalent of PSR.FSG are said to believe that Getafe’s limit – which is set at about £45m this season – is not sufficient to deliver the kind of investment and growth that is desired in Boston.There is perhaps something of a paradox here.