Premier League clubs, as announced on Tuesday, have collectively decided to restrict the timeframe during which a player's transfer fee can be spread in their financial accounts to five years.

This marks a change from the previous practise, where clubs could amortise the cost of a transfer fee over the entire duration of the player's contract.

"Premier League shareholders today agreed to amend the rule on amortisation of player registration costs to bring it in line with UEFA's regulations," the league said in a statement.

"Going forward, a five-year maximum will apply to all new or extended contracts."

Many Premier League clubs have previously utilised amortisation, but a recent trend, notably observed with Chelsea, involves signing players to contracts lasting eight years or more.

This strategy affords clubs an extended period to write off transfer fees.

The motivation behind this approach includes navigating Premier League Financial Fair Play regulations, which cap permissible losses at £105 million ($131.76 million) over a three-year span.

Chelsea, among 15 clubs, voted to modify the amortisation rule. Importantly, this change will not retroactively apply to contracts already in place.

The adjustment aligns the Premier League with UEFA, which revised its regulations in June.

Additionally, the clubs have agreed to another rule amendment empowering the Premier League Board to prevent a club from registering more players if the club owes a transfer debt to another Premier League or EFL club until the outstanding debt is settled.