European football's top dons are close to agreeing a Champions League expansion which would see four extra match dates incorporated into each season in a move that would seriously effect the future of the EFL Cup.

According to The Times, the new formatting for the extra matches is still yet to be agreed on — but it is likely to involve a restructuring the group stage, or even adding an additional round-robin phase.

Finding space in the already-heavily-congested domestic calendar for those extra games is difficult, and is likely to impact the EFL Cup in England. Last year's Champions League winners Liverpool have already showcased how fixture congestion has impacted the competition by fielding a reserve side against Aston Villa in the League Cup Quarter Finals and taking a stronger side to Qatar for the Club World Cup finals.

The plan, which is close to being agreed, would mean Champions League finalists playing 17 games in the tournament rather than 13, with four extra dates of fixtures needed to facilitate the increase in games.

Uefa could adjust its own Champions League calendar to find two of the four extra dates needed, by playing the last-16 games over two weeks instead of four, but the other two fixtures would need to be fitted in elsewhere in the season. This could potentially result in the EFL Cup being a competition solely for sides not playing in European football in the foreseeable future.