Coronavirus: Comolli told only three Premier League clubs can spend in next transfer window

Former Liverpool and Tottenham director of football Damien Comolli has been told only three Premier League clubs will be able to spend money in the next transfer window.

The coronavirus pandemic has halted football across the globe, with no games in England’s top tier since March 9.

The Premier League announced last week it still intends to complete the 2019-20 season, which it is hoped will be finished by the end of June.

Due to the financial impact of the global health crisis, a number of people within the game anticipate a significant decrease in fees when the market next opens, with Comolli among them.

He has received information that spending in the Premier League will be limited to just a trio of teams, though he was unable to confirm the accuracy of the claim.

“An agent was telling me the other day that there are actually only three clubs in the Premier League who will be able to spend money next summer in the transfer window,” Comolli told Sky Sports.

“I don’t know if this is correct but usually when agents tell you things like this, they usually get intel.

“We might see very little transfer activity, we might see swaps, we might see loans and I think we are going to see a massive decrease in transfer fees and transfer activity, at least transfers involving money.

“The longer this crisis goes on, more clubs are going to be in a financially difficult situation. The first thing that will be impacted will be player remuneration, the second thing will be transfer fees.”

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Comolli believes Spurs, who sit eighth in the Premier League, will need to be cautious about their outgoings if they miss out on Champions League qualification.

“They are not doing well in the league. If the transfer market is difficult for them if they are not qualified for the Champions League, people should understand they have to be very cautious,” he said.

“Remember the whole debate at the time when Arsenal had to pay for the Emirates, for building the stadium, and people were criticising that they don’t spend money, but they didn’t have money to spend. It was very simple.

“And I think Tottenham are in a situation where they have some money to spend, I’m sure, or they will have had without the virus.

“But that virus will create a situation for them because they’ve got this huge debt, it’s ‘healthy debt’ because they built a stadium and they’ve got incredible assets, but they still have to pay for it.”