UEFA president mulls limitations to transfers, squad size

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin will consider proposals aimed at reducing the gap between European football's elite and lower class, including changes to the current transfer structure and the size of matchday squads.

Ceferin told reporters at a press conference Wednesday that he would entertain solutions, such as luxury taxes to curb outlandish spending, and favour a new way of completing transfers.

"We do have to examine new mechanisms like luxury taxes and in particular sporting criteria like squad limitations and fair transfer rules to avoid player hoarding and excessive concentration of talent within a few teams," said Ceferin, according to Reuters' Brian Homewood. "We do need to assess whether the transfer market as it operates today is the best we can do. We cannot be afraid to touch it."

Global spending in the January transfer window reached $856.3 million, according to FIFA figures, with clubs from the top five European leagues accounting for 66.9 percent of that total.

Increasingly, it is the likes of Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain, and Real Madrid that pay some of the biggest transfer fees; other clubs poach youngsters from smaller outfits, particularly in eastern Europe, before sending them out on loan.

"We cannot allow the greatness of some to overshadow and drown out the least of us," said Ceferin. "If we allow gaps to become too great, we will be neglecting those who have little opportunity."

The Slovenian, however, didn't outline any concrete plans to achieve greater parity in UEFA.

Before his election, changes to the Champions League format restored places to Europe's four biggest divisions - the Premier League, La Liga, the Bundesliga, and Serie A - starting in 2018-19.

Ceferin said he could sanction financial compensation to clubs that would suffer from the rejigged layout.