Gary Neville and Ian Wright have both said they are “worried” about the growing gap between the Premier League and the Championship, with the three promoted teams looking likely to be relegated straight back down.
With Southampton already mathematically down, Leicester and Ipswich are facing a losing battle at staying in the top flight with 14 points separating the Suffolk side from safety.
If all three promoted clubs do go straight back down, it will be the second time in as many seasons and this trend has concerned the punditry duo.
“We should be absolutely worried,” Wright said on The Overlap. “There are 17 teams that are continually getting money because three teams are coming in, whether it’s Leeds, Sheffield United or Burnley or whoever, and then they go again.
“These 17 teams are continually getting stronger, the middle teams even. Look where Villa are now. Look at Brighton, look at Fulham having a go, Brentford, Bournemouth. All these teams are getting so much better than the three teams who are coming up.
“You look at Wolves this season. They have been so bad this season but they have had nothing to worry about.”
Neville, meanwhile, said clubs are unwilling to put themselves in financial jeopardy for what they would consider a small chance of staying up and said the financial disparity between the Premier League and the Championship has made teams ” frightened”
“There’s a football question but there is also the financial disparity between what’s happening in the Championship and the Premier League and we’ve talked about this for years.
“It’s got to the point now where clubs who come up – Nottingham Forest spent a hundred-odd million pounds – you have those wages when you sink back. There are some levels to soften the impact but the risks you have to take to stay in mean that if you go back down with a parachute, there is still a risk of going under financially.
“You’re frightened then to go for the risk. What you’re seeing now is teams coming up and thinking, ‘There’s no point in going for it that much, we’ll try to outperform it and then at least we’re not going under financially.’
“It’s getting to a point where the gap is getting bigger.”
Last season, Nottingham Forest, who finished 17th, reported a record revenue of £155million. Ipswich in the same period recorded a revenue of £18.17million, highlighting the challenge facing promoted clubs.