Andy Gray has warned Premier League clubs that they will no longer attract the best players in the world if restrictive financial rules continue to be in place.
Gray has witnessed former club Everton, as well as Nottingham Forest, fall foul of the Profit and Sustainability rules this season. A UEFA-style Financial Fair Play system is set to replace the current controversial structure.
However, for the Everton and Aston Villa legend, there is a bigger picture. «The Premier League need to be careful. The thing about it for the last 30 years is the ability to attract some of the top foreign players to help make it the best league in the world,» he voiced.
«If we restrict the clubs in continuing to do this because they are running scared of breaking financial rules then other leagues will get the top players. That would be a huge worry because the standard of the Premier League would invariably drop.
»Of course we don't want to see clubs bankrupting themselves but in the grand scheme of things I can't think of too many big clubs who have gone to the wall. Some smaller clubs have had their problems but not the big hitters."
Gray, who won the League title with the Toffees, also pointed out that these financial limitations help maintain the cartel of the same small band of clubs repeating his achievement. He added: «For instance with suffocating financial rules in place the Premier League are denying one of my old clubs Aston Villa, with ambitious multi-millionaire owners, the opportunity of spending some decent money to bring in better players.
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