£50m parachute payment for maybe just 3 City rivals

THERE could only be three clubs in the Championship next season who collect parachute payments amid fears the Premier League is becoming a closed shop.

- Peter Smith

Ipswich Town, Leicester City and Southampton will all pocket nearly £50 million to cushion the financial blow of being relegated from the top flight and back into a league operating in a different world of budgets.

But there will be no second-year payments due to Burnley because they are already back in the big time, Sheffield United are hoping to follow suit in the play-offs and Luton Town will cash their cheque in League One.

There will be no third-year payments in 2025/26 because Leicester, Southampton and Leeds United have all since won promotion and reset their calculations.

This comes as pundits have been panicking about the struggle of promoted clubs to compete in the Premier League but still being streets ahead of the Championship, in a large part due to financial rules and hugely contrasting revenues.