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Important next season is not impacted, says Barber

Albion chief executive Paul Barber believes Premier League clubs need to have next season in mind when they continue discussions about the current campaign.

By Bruce Talbot • 11 May 2020

By Paul Hazlewood
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The 20 top-flight clubs convene again today to discuss Project Restart but Barber has reiterated that any decisions should not impact on the 2020/21 campaign.

He said, “All clubs agree, certainly the ones I have spoken to, that we don't want any detrimental impact on next season. To try and protect next season we need to keep it as whole as possible, bearing in mind we will probably be facing games behind closed doors.

"I think we have got to make every effort to get this season finished within a reasonable period during the summer so that we protect next season in its entirety.

"We've got the European Championships at the end of next season and I think we've got to be mindful that the FA and EFL are both suffering at the moment commercially. We want to try and respect their competitions and find a way to make sure they stay in the schedule as whole as possible so that the revenues they generate remain intact.

23:16

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Barber & Ashworth press conference

"On top of all of that you've got European and international competitions. It's hard to believe that we will probably have a major tournament in the summer of 2021 but international managers are going to want dates, as usual, to prepare their squads for that tournament.

"So, whichever way you look at it, I think keeping next season intact and trying to start it as close to the normal date as possible while giving ourselves as much time as possible to finish it is paramount.”

Among the issues being debated around Project Restart are the 30th June deadline when contracts expire and the status of players on loan.

“It's another piece of the jigsaw,” said Barber. “We need to understand what the impact on various scenarios would be.

“We haven't made any firm decisions at this point. We have had some contact with different clubs and, understandably, they are trying to plan for the eventuality of restarting.

“What we have said to them is when we have got a complete picture of what our league looks like and its timetable and what the rules look like around 30th June, when contracts are due to end, then we can address the loans situation and we will do that very quickly.”