Peterbrough chairman Darragh MacAnthony has proposed an NFL-style draft to decide where Premier League youngsters will be sent on loan. The Irishman laid out the plan in detail on his Twitter page this morning, and it certainly makes for interesting reading.
Under this plan, each Premier League club would put forward five players to enter the draft, with the 48 clubs in League One and League Two each selecting two players to take on a season-long loan. Crucially, the Football League clubs would not be financially responsible for the players.
Drafts are a staple of American sport, with the best college players entering the professional ranks via this method each year. The NFL and NBA versions attract millions of viewers annually, and have become much-anticipated events in their own right.
Speaking to BBC Sport, MacAnthony said that the proposed system would ease the financial burden on small clubs that are associated with loaning Premier League youngsters.
We went after a couple of Premier League loans in the summer and we were quoted £5,000 a week for a 52-week loan, when the season is only 40 odd weeks.
Also we had to accommodate them, so it would end up costing us nearly £6,000 a week for a 19-year-old, from whatever club you might want to quote in the Premier League.
I hate that and it just went against every bone in my body that we'd be paying all this money, when we're going to have to develop someone else's player.
I'm happy to sit down with the EFL, or for them to read my Twitter feed, and take this forward. I've put it out there, I've started the conversation - let's see if the powers that be have the intelligence to pick up on what I'm saying and run with it.
While this is certainly an interesting proposal, it is unlikely that Premier League clubs would agree to it. Loaning players can be a fruitful business, and it is unlikely they would allow their top young prospects to enter such a draft.
Many clubs would also likely be uncomfortable with having no say on where their players end up, as a poor fit could halt the development of their youngsters.
