The 20 Premier League clubs have agreed in principle to a radical plan that would see each team play an extra match a season abroad.

Under the proposal, cities such as Hong Kong, New York, Los Angeles, Singapore, Sydney, Johannesburg, Dubai and Beijing would stage matches between two Premier League sides.

The League have called a news conference for this afternoon where it is expected they will confirm they are to explore the proposal of playing games in some of the world's largest cities.

A meeting of the 20 clubs this morning agreed in principle to the plan. It is understood that the proposed overseas matches would not be the final fixtures of the season.

The idea would be to cash in on existing interest in the Premier League around the world, and the extra money generated from TV would be split equally among the 20 clubs.

The details of how the system would work have yet to be finalised but it would mean each club playing 39 games, with a draw to pick out each side's overseas match.

There would be a sporting criteria, such as league position, to decide which clubs play each other.

And under the proposal, points earned in the overseas game would count towards the final league position.

One club source said: "The Premier League is a global game now. Everyone knows how popular it is around the world and this proposal went down so well because every club would be involved, not just a few.

"The Premier League has always worked as a co-operative of 20 clubs and this would increase everyone's income, showcase the league to the rest of the world, and be exciting to those fans in this country who either want to travel to the game or watch it on TV.

"We now need the League to look at the proposal and see how we can take it forward."

A firm decision is unlikely to be made until another league meeting in June, with any changes not coming into effect until the 2010/11 season.

American sports have already experimented with the idea, most notably back in the autumn when an American football NFL match was played at Wembley and an NHL ice hockey game was staged at London's O2 Arena.

Basketball's NBA also played a pre-season game in London and now it seems that England's leading football teams could make the reverse trip across the Atlantic.

Jeremy Hunt, shadow secretary of state for culture, media and sport, said playing matches outside England would be a "shame'' and expressed his concern that we are not improving homegrown talent.

He told London's LBC 97.3 radio station: "I think it would be a shame, that's my instant reaction. But I do think that the Premier League benefits from the fact that we do have some of the best players in the whole world and I think we are very lucky with the Premier League we have.

"But we also need to make sure we have a Premier League that nurtures homegrown talent and at the moment that's not happening as well as it should.''