Barnsley FC co-chairman Paul Conway backs Project Big Picture

Liverpool and Manchester United are leading the plan, which would see EFL teams given a£250m bail-out to share between themselves and 25 per cent of revenue from future TV deals that the Premier League secures.

The giveaway comes with a price with the football calendar to be cut to suit leading Premier League clubs with the number of top-flight teams to be cut to 18 and the EFL Cup and Community Shield being abolished.

These changes would free up fixture dates that could be filled with more lucrative European football matches and pre-season friendlies.

EFL chairman Rick Parry is backing the plan on behalf of all 72 clubs, having stressed that the EFL will need £250m to enable clubs to operate throughout this season and stop any members from going under.

Speaking to The Athletic, Conway said: “Project Big Picture would judiciously reallocate more media revenue to the EFL and hopefully rein in the reckless spending which endangers the entire EFL.

“With the planned expansion of UEFA to include a third competition below the Champions League and Europa League, it is conceivable that up to 10 Premier League teams could be playing in UEFA competitions during the season.

"If the smaller Premier League clubs do not accept Project Big Picture, it is entirely conceivable that the bigger Premier League clubs go along with the push of other big UEFA clubs to move UEFA matches to the weekend, resulting in 60 to 80 Premier League matches forced to be moved to midweek, which would hurt the smaller Premier League teams. Weekends are typically their biggest grossing match days.

"The bigger Premier League clubs aim to grow their global brand either through Project Big Picture or other alternatives. The global football audience prefers to watch Liverpool play Bayern Munich than Liverpool play Burnley.”