Major League Soccer’s (MLS) commissioner Don Garber’s proposal of a salary cap across European leagues seems fine on paper. By instituting a hard- and percentage-based cap on the total amount of wages paid by a club, the financial hegemony of a few super-clubs would be theoretically exchanged for a more equal playing field where every club is able to field teams of roughly equivalent talent.

Not only do the Big Four hoard the best and the brightest for success on and off the field, but there is also speculation that such behaviour is also directed at denying smaller clubs the services of these talented players, ensuring that the dominance of the elite remains relatively unchallenged by, say, the likes of Stoke and Hull.

In addition, a salary cap would also combat the problem of clubs racking up an ever-increasing debt as they sacrifice long-term stability to gamble on the success of the here and the now. Estimates now put the amount of debt the majority of EPL clubs hold as a percentage of their revenue at well over 70%, which is considered the maximum healthy level of debt a club should sustain.

Case in point: Chelsea F.C., or more commonly known by their moniker of ‘Chelski’. Despite official claims to the contrary, Roman Abramovich’s rubles, in the form of an interest-free loan, are now the only lifeline sustaining a club where their total debt exceeds gross revenue in a year. Were the Russian to pull the plug, Chelsea would implode like a house of cards based on their extravagant spending in wages alone.

With all the apparent benefits of a salary cap, why haven’t the Football Association (FA) implemented it yet? Bureaucratic red-tape notwithstanding, there are a few considerations that need to be addressed.

A salary cap will need to stipulate not only a ceiling, both at club and player levels, but will also need to lay out a floor cap. This will act to head off a possible situation where clubs still vie for the best players in their first XI and fill the rest of the squad with players plundered from the youth academy, so to speak. A floor cap will discourage the financial polarising of players within a club, thus ensuring a more even distribution of talent with a team.

The EPL and the rest of Britannia still insist on paying wages in pounds sterling, in contrast to the rest of Europe’s leagues where the Euro is the norm. Taking into account currency conversion rates and different taxation policies as well (the top income bracket in England pay 50% of their income in taxes, compared with 40% for those in Spain), the FA must ensure that the EPL’s ability to attract players of calibre is not hamstrung with a salary cap. The idea is not to shut out footballing’s elite, but rather to ensure they don’t all move to a few clubs.

Which brings me to my next point, namely, the free movement of footballers across Europe’s leagues. A unilateral establishment of a salary cap by the FA would simply result in a large exodus of footballers moving across the English Channel to other uncapped leagues in the European Union. Either the salary cap must cover the major leagues in Europe, or the EPL’s own cap must be necessarily generous to avoid such a scenario, which would result in little if any impact at all.

Finally, if the salary cap were violated in any way, any resulting punishment cannot simply be deemed as a slap on the wrist. History shows the FA being obviously reluctant to impose any significant penalties for any infractions by Premier League clubs, as the FA fears harming the goose that lays the golden eggs. Fines and points deductions for infringements must be clearly spelt out.

With all of the above considerations before a salary cap could be deemed effective, it is thus clear why the EPL will not see such a move in the near future.