Gary Neville and Ian Wright have both expressed concern about the growing gap between the Premier League and the Championship, with the three promoted teams expected to be relegated straight back down.
With Southampton already mathematically eliminated, Leicester and Ipswich are fighting a losing battle to stay in the top flight, with 14 points separating the Suffolk side from safety.
If all three promoted clubs are relegated, it will be the second time in as many seasons, causing concern among the punditry duo.
“We should be absolutely worried,” Wright said on The Overlap. “There are 17 teams that are constantly receiving funds because three teams come in, whether it’s Leeds, Sheffield United, Burnley, or whoever, and then they leave.
“These 17 teams, including the middle teams, are only getting stronger. Look where Villa is now. Check out Brighton, Fulham, Brentford, and Bournemouth. All of these teams are improving far more than the three teams that are coming up.
“Look at the Wolves this season. They’ve been terrible this season, but they haven’t had anything to worry about.”
Neville, meanwhile, said clubs are unwilling to put themselves in financial jeopardy for what they consider a small chance of staying up, and that the financial disparity between the Premier League and the Championship has made teams “frightened”
“There is a football question, but there is also a financial disparity between what is going on in the Championship and the Premier League, which we have discussed for years.
“It’s gotten to the point where clubs that come up, like Nottingham Forest, spend a hundred million pounds, and you have those wages when you sink back.
There are some levels to cushion the blow, but the risks you must take to stay in mean that even if you land with a parachute, you risk going bankrupt.
“You are too afraid to take the risk. What you’re seeing now is teams coming up and saying, ‘There’s no point in going for it that hard; we’ll try to outperform it and at least we won’t go bankrupt.’
“It’s getting to a point where the gap is getting bigger.”
Last season, Nottingham Forest finished 17th and reported a record revenue of £155 million. In the same period, Ipswich generated £18.17 million in revenue, highlighting the challenge that promoted clubs face.
