Is The Premier League Going The Way Of Serie A?
Some time ago, Italy was the place to go if you were a professional footballer. In Italy, fame, honor and prestige was aplenty. And so was the money. In the past, every top footballer wanted to be in Italy. Tragically, this is not the case now.
The money is now undeniably in England. In the past few years, we have seen many English clubs fall in foreign hands. Chelsea is the prime example of course, but traditionally English powerhouses Manchester United and Liverpool have fallen into foreign hands as well. Even clubs of smaller stature, Manchester City and West Ham, were not spared. And as we speak now, Arsenal might be next in line.
The result of this as we can all see is that English clubs have more spending power. During the last transfer window, Manchester United splashed over £40 million on new signings Nani, Anderson and Tevez. Meanwhile, Liverpool matched United by spending well over £40 million on players as well. Chelsea, bankrolled by an incredibly wealthy Russian by the name of Abramovich, on the hand hand, have spent so much money in the past few years that I doubt the accountants at Stamford Bridge can even keep up. Manchester City were no slouch either, ranking in over £30 million in receipts for player purchases, thanks no doubt to Thaksin Shinawatra’s millions.
All this might seem great at the moment and why shouldn’t it? If I had a dime for every time I hear a Liverpool fan gloating about signing Torres, or a Manchester United fan boasting about having Tevez join their ranks, I would easily be at least $50 richer. The fans are certainly happy. The club is spending money to sign players so that they can challenge for the title, so how can this be a bad thing?
If you’ve been paying close attention, you’ll soon realize that what is happening now in the English Premier League mirrors closely that of Serie A years back when Serie A teams were signing checks left, right and center for players.
Economics and finance are subjects that I’m not intimately familiar with, but it is clear that the way clubs in England are spending money is something we must be wary of.
Chelsea, ever since being bought over by Abramovich in 2003, have been making losses annually despite their successes, which includes winning the EPL twice and reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League twice. In other words, success on the pitch does not automatically translate into dollars. Also, it is perhaps not an overstatement to say that probably the only thing keeping them afloat at this moment is none other than Abramovich’s billions.
We must also consider the predicament of Manchester United, who after being subjected to a hostile takeover by the Glazers, have been placed in a huge mountain of debt. I shudder to think what will happen to United and Chelsea if their respective owners, the Glazers and Abramovich, should pull out. I’m betting it would be nothing short of a financial catastrophe of epic proportions.
Ever since the financial crisis suffered by Italian clubs Parma and Lazio, and the demise of Leeds, I was convinced that business and football shouldn’t mix. I am not saying that businesses investing money in football is a bad thing. What I am saying or trying to highlight rather, is the very real problem that arises when clubs spend large sums of money which they cannot afford.
An appropriate analogy to describe what is happening in the English Premier League now would be likening these overspending clubs to individuals who are charging their every expenditure to their credit cards without care, conscience and without thought for long term sustainability.
Spending money that you don’t have is taking the first step on the grim road to financial destruction, and football clubs are no exception to this rule.
Related Items from Soccerlens
- Summer 2008 Transfer Lists
- Serie A 07/08 Salaries - Kaka rules the roost
- 08/09 Premier League Kits
- All Premier League Transfers in January 2008
- Schmap Premier League Widget Review
One small thing - United bought Hargreaves too
we spent more than liverpool
You were comparing the Prem to Serie A … is the Serie A not an healthy league? Are you a business major or a blogging doom sayer trying to fire up the crowd for hits? The Serie A seems pretty healthy to me … unless being a blogger gives you access to info I haven’t read. If so, let’s have it!!!
premier league is different then italian league.Italian is the best and INTER is the best
I agree with taulant, FORZA INTER (I know this has nothing to do with the article)
:)
Interesting piece…Do you think England’s national team suffers from foreign entry?
Can anyone remember Leeds UTd under DOleary?Well he was the one who signed players bankrolled by Risdale.DO did it because his Leeds team had reached the sf of the cl and thinking that they would be coffer rich with revenue generated by the cl.Alas it was not to be.
Leeds were unable to get in to the cl and in the end were almost like Accrington Stanley.Younger readers would have to go to the net to find out more abt AS.
To cut the story short,don’t spend money u don’t have whether as individuals or clubs.
@Ol Devil: Never did I once mention in my article that Serie A is an unhealthy, debt-ridden league. What I’m saying is that the way EPL clubs are spending their money now closely resembles that of Serie A clubs in the past. That does not necessarily mean that EPL is doomed, rather it is something that we should be wary about.
@Wesley: I’m not entirely sure, but the fact that Arsenal’s and Chelsea’s first XI is made of so many foreigners speaks volume.
Kenny, you are very bias in your latest post.
Chelsea DO NOT have a team full of foreigners!!!
Chelsea supply 5 of Englands starting 11 players - Terry(Captain), Lampard, J.Cole, A.Cole and SWP!
Please get your facts right.
It is Arsenal, Man united and Liverpool who are fielding foreigners.
It’s true, the prem is looking more like the Serie A of old. It’s not a tragedy though (as you put in the first paragraph). It’s good to see the world’s talents spread across a few countries now (mainly England, Spain and Italy).
As for what might happen if Abramovich and Glazer pull out, well these are too examples at the opposite ends of the spectrum. Without Abramovich Chelsea would be in deep sh** as they can´t support their costs (they run at something like 100 million loss a year). The best they would be is back to top quarter of the table. Without Glazer, Man Utd would be fine. It’s the money the club raises which pays the bank interest. If only they would sell the club to someone who has a spare billion who doesn´t need to borrow and drain the clubs tranfer funds. Man Utd as a football club doesn´t need financial help. It is the most profitable club in the world.
By the way, we write “cheques” this side of the pond
“It is Arsenal, Man united and Liverpool who are fielding foreigners.”
Are you delusional or something? I mean, you’re right about Liverpool and Francenal, but Man Utd does not only have a more than a decent number of British players, but also produces its own players more than any other “big” club (God, how I hate that phrase): Neville, Brown, Fletcher, O’Shea, Giggs, Scholes, Eagles, Simpson… And who did Chelsea produce? John Terry, and that is all. A single academy player. Not really impressive. And, yes, Chelsea is full of foreigners, but atleast they’re trying to develop kids of their own, with their new academy and all. But nothing for now.
You’re all racist s***s blaming your crappy national sides problems on foreigners. Its not a club managers job to help the national side. Its NOT the foreigner’s fault your s*** (I know we are too but thats beside the point)! You make me sick, unbelievably sick! I thought we Irish were the excuse makers, but you, oh, sickeningly racist and retarded!
In any case, this is all besides the point, this article is on money and the Premier League not foreigners in the Premier League.
The big difference between Serie A of a few years ago and the Premier League of today is that none of the clubs in Italy were ever run for profit. As Giancarlo Gallavoti from Gazzetta says ‘in Italy mentioning money when you are talking about football is considered vulgar’. Also the scale of the spending in England, even at Chelsea, is paltry when compared to the sums that were being shelled out every year in Italy. And the new owners of England’s biggest clubs do not have the same footballing backgrounds and love of the game that the owners in Italy do. As Kenny suggests, the foreign owned clubs could be hung out to dry if the likes of Abramovich pull out.
I watched 10 mins of AC Milan V Empoli yesterday and then promptly fell asleep! What a boring, slow and very dull league. You can’t beat The Premiership for a fast flowing game with excitement. The Italian league is absolute shite!
Should have watched Roma’s match Paul!
You’re absolutely right Gil.