The Premier League will look different when the season starts on Friday. Here’s what’s changed

The Premier League rarely stands still.

The 2024-25 season, which begins Friday, has seen the hiring of five new managers, an estimated $1.6 billion in player caps (and counting), the introduction of new offside-proof technology, updated financial rules and a revamped match schedule.

CHANGES IN COACHING

A quarter of managers will be taking charge of a Premier League match for the first time, with Liverpool (Arne Slot), Chelsea (Enzo Maresca) and Brighton (Fabian Hurzeler) all under new management, while Southampton (Russell Martin) and Ipswich (Kieran McKenna) will be promoted despite having no experience in the top flight. Add to that Julen Lopetegui as the new man at West Ham after David Moyes’ four-and-a-half years at the helm, and Steve Cooper replacing Maresca at Leicester, and the benches will look different this season. But most of the intrigue will focus on Slot and the style he will implement at Liverpool after almost nine years with the popular Jurgen Klopp. The rock ‘n’ roll could turn into more control as Slot favours a possession-based game.

SLOWER MARKET

According to transfermarkt.com, 20 Premier League clubs have spent as much on new players this transfer window as clubs in Spain, Italy and Germany combined. So why has this summer seemed so slow for trading? Maybe it’s because there have been no blockbuster deals, with the most expensive being striker Dominic Solanke, who joined Tottenham from Bournemouth for £65 million ($83 million). But multiple deals between $30 million and $70 million add up quickly – and there are still three weeks left in the transfer window, during which Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea are all likely to be involved. City (Savinho) and Arsenal (Riccardo Calafiori) have made just one new signing so far, while Liverpool have made none. By the end of transfer deadline day on August 30, don’t be surprised if Premier League clubs have spent significantly more than $2 billion – even if most of them balance their budget with sales due to the league’s stricter financial rules.

BURNED SEMIAUTOMATIC

Offside decisions are expected to be made much quicker in the Premier League this season. Semi-automatic offside technology is being introduced to the competition for the first time, with the new system set to launch in the first half of the season. Multiple cameras will track players’ movements and record data points on body parts that are relevant to offside decisions. The data is processed using AI to create a 3D offside line, which is alerted to the VAR team. It is expected to reduce the time it currently takes VAR referees to make a manual decision by around 30 seconds on average. Semi-automatic offsides were used at the 2022 World Cup and the recent European Championship.

EXPENDITURE RULES

The Premier League’s last season was significant for some clubs, such as Everton and Nottingham Forest, who saw points deducted for breaking profitability and sustainability rules, which are now being applied more stringently. The upcoming season is the final year of these rules, and two new forms of spending caps are being trialled ahead of their introduction from the 2025-26 season. Teams in the English top flight will trial a system of ‘Squad Cost Rules’, which will limit spending on players to 85% of the club’s football revenue and net profit or loss from player sales. A second system, called ‘Top to Bottom Anchoring’, limits – or anchors – spending to a multiple of the lowest combined prize money and TV rights cash a team is expected to earn. The league said the systems are designed to “improve and preserve the financial stability of clubs and the competitive balance of the Premier League”, as well as “promote the aspirations of clubs”.

NO WINTER BREAK

The Premier League is renowned for its relentless grind – even more so this time around. Clubs are not having a winter break this time around, with the season starting later to give players more time to recover from the international tournaments this summer, and therefore to be under pressure. Last year, for example, five matches took place every weekend over a fortnight, giving teams at least one weekend off in January. All other major European leagues will have a winter break.