Premier League chief executive Richard Masters warned that the sport “cannot rely” on star players to maintain their level of performance amid an expanding football calendar that he believes leaves domestic competitions in need of protection.

Star players such as Chelsea’s Cole Palmer, described as shattered by the head of English footballers’ union, find themselves in a position where they may be playing in major tournaments in three straight summers, the 2026 World Cup coming on the back of a Club World Cup in the United States last summer and the European Championships in the previous year.

During the regular season, the toll on top talent has been somewhat increased by the addition of at least two more games for clubs competing in the Champions League and Europa League, to say nothing of the strain placed on those who compete in an even more competitive Premier League. 

“The players at the top level play an enormous number of football matches, and we cannot rely on them to keep performing at the level we want them to,” said Masters at the Financial Times Business of Football Summit. “What I never want [is] any of our clubs [thinking] that the Premier League isn’t their number one priority or for the players to fill the Premier League isn’t the number one priority, because they have too many other matches to distract them. ‘I’m gonna take a breather this week. I’m prioritizing myself for another competition.’ 

“At the moment, the Premier League is number one, I believe, for all of our clubs, and that’s what keeps it strong. We want that to remain the case, both in terms of the managers, the shareholders, and also the players.”

The expansion of European games has had a knock-on effect on an English football calendar that already allowed itself little room for maneuver with logistical nightmares created in recent seasons when those competing on the continent go deep in the EFL Cup. In April 2024, English Football Association was also forced to scrap replays in the FA Cup from the first round onwards, the governing body specifically citing UEFA competitions as a contributory factor to the decision.

For Masters’ part, he noted that it has become increasingly difficult to schedule Premier League games around clubs’ other involvement. That reality is not aided by the remarkable success of England on the continent. At the time of writing, all nine clubs that qualified for the competitions are still active, including six of the remaining 16 teams in the Champions League.

“It’s a serious concern,” said Masters of the expanding calendar. “What we’re seeing is continued expansion of regional and international football. In the last 2 years alone, we’ve seen the relaunching of the UC3 programme with many more European games our clubs are on our participating in. We’ve seen a Club World Cup launched and we’re seeing a much bigger World Cup this summer. All of those decisions, many are unconsulted on, particularly at FIFA level. [With] UEFA, we have that dialogue, not so we agree with all of it, and we’re now starting to feel some of that. 

“It is incredibly hard to schedule the Premier League to meet all of our broadcast obligations, to keep all of our clubs happy at the same time, as accommodating nine clubs in Europe. It’s a real problem. Um, so we have to be aware of that and we have to work very closely … with UEFA or you have to stay close as leagues because these don’t just impact the Premier League, they impact on all of us.

“Domestic competitions need protection. We’re going to see the new expanding World Cup in all of its glory. We’re looking forward to that. The World Cup is a great thing. Obviously, it’s become controversial. We’re gonna see how it’s all gonna pan out over the summer.”

Masters’ concerns were echoed by Maheta Molango, chair of English footballers’ union, the PFA, and a vice-president on its worldwide counterpart FIFPRO. He specifically cited the case of Palmer, who has been limited to 19 of a possible 42 club games this season as he battles with groin issues and a broken toe. In the previous season, Palmer played 4,247 minutes across 52 matches for Chelsea alone in a season that ran from August 18 2024 to July 13 the following year and the Club World Cup final. That in itself had begun barely a month after a European Championships in which Palmer scored in the final.

Molango revealed that he had visited Chelsea’s training camp soon after their Club World Cup exertions and that the club had seemed “shattered.”

 “This is just the reality,” he said. “You wonder whether this is what we wanted as an industry. I’m not sure. I think sometimes we need to be honest with ourselves and understand that sometimes less is more.

“People say he’s a millionaire, yeah, he is, but it doesn’t give you an extra lung or an extra leg, and [we have] come to a stage where you know, ‘I want to see Cole Palmer on the pitch because he’s the one who makes me dream.’ The reality is that the fans pay right now 100% of the ticket [price], and a lot of time they get 70% if they’re lucky of the show or 60% because players start regulating themselves.

“The Premier League is the best product in terms of football, they make north of £4billion for 38 games. Surely there’s an element of valuing the scarcity. Christmas is nice because it’s not every Tuesday and I think we need to discover that because we thought in football that more is more. Sometimes less is more.”