Championship owner makes 'big, big' Sunderland, Sheffield Wednesday and Ipswich Town spending claim

But the businessman doesn’t know whether the likes of Portsmouth will be able to match the expenditure of other sides over the course of the summer.

The third tier looks set to be a wildly competitive division next season and, while Sunderland have been made one of the early favourites for promotion, they will face stern competition from a number of clubs.

And that leads MacAnthony to believe that League One will be a ‘frightening place’ during the 2021/22 campaign, and has predicted a number of clubs will look to splash the cash.

Both Ipswich Town and Wigan Athletic have already secured eye-catching signings, while Sunderland – backed by new majority shareholder Kyril Louis-Dreyfus – could yet flex their financial muscles.

Such spending power at a number of clubs had led the Posh president to predict the league will be even tougher this time around.

Speaking on his podcast, The Hard Truth, MacAnthony said: “League One is a frightening place next season. You can name 10 ex-Premier League clubs.

“Where do I start? Sheffield Wednesday Ipswich, Sunderland, Bolton have just gone up.

“It's a graveyard of ex-Premier League teams. I said at the start of the season: "We need to get out of this league this year, it is getting tougher and tougher".

“If a Burton Albion or a Morecambe goes up next year, it's a miracle because there are some big, big clubs. It'll be interesting to see who they recruit in the summer.

“We haven't even spoken about Wigan. Wigan will spend money, Ipswich will spend money, Sunderland will spend money, Sheffield Wednesday is owned by a wealthy guy who'll want to get back on the saddle again.

“Portsmouth, owned by the Eisners, I don't know if they will spent that kind of money. But, again, big club and I'm sure I've missed another big boy.

“Lincoln will go again, I haven't even mentioned Oxford. There are a lot of big clubs and that's the way it goes.”

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