Man City legal win set to force Premier League into rule change U-turn - and Arsenal could suffer most

Arsenal could be among the clubs set to suffer most if proposed new Premier League rule changes are voted through in the fallout from Manchester City's court victory.

City took the Premier League to court over the Associated Party Transaction (APT) sponsorship rules which they argued were unlawful. A panel of three retired judges agreed with City on some of their arguments, finding that the APT rules were against UK competition law and that the Premier League abused its position of power on the subject.

Part of City's case was that some clubs benefit from huge shareholder loans from their owners, which are taken out without interest and not counted towards APT rules. Now, it is proposed that this exemption would be removed.

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In proposals sent to clubs ahead of a vote on November 22, the Premier League have softened some of the wording of the APT rules to comply with the ruling in City's trial. According to BBC Sport, one such amendment proposes replacing the word 'would' with 'could' when describing 'fair market value' in terms of valuing sponsorship deals. The new wording would be: "the amount for which an asset, right or other subject matter of the transaction could be sold, licensed or exchanged, a liability settled, or a service provided, between knowledgeable, willing parties in an arm's length transaction".

Also, the words 'in normal market conditions' has been removed from the end of that definition, which is believed to allow clubs more flexibility in agreeing commercial and sponsorship deals with associated parties.

Fourteen of 20 clubs will need to approve the motion for it to pass. Of the clubs who benefit most from shareholder loans, Everton (£451m) and Brighton (£373m) are top of the list, while Arsenal received £259m. Chelsea and Liverpool round out the top five, while City are among six clubs who received no shareholder loans along with Manchester United, Newcastle, Tottenham, West Ham and Southampton.