Texas is a lawyer who enjoys brawling. This healthy balance benefits football. Without him, Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin, and Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser al-Khelaifi, the European Super League might not have been conceivable. He is now aiming for the Premier League. Tebas said that the Premier League was unsustainable and vowed to challenge the policies that allow English clubs to “distort” the transfer market by spending huge sums despite losses. His caustic remarks were based on figures that made my eyes water.
Premier League appears solid, regardless of La Liga’s investment
Last summer, Premier League clubs spent £1.92 billion on transfers, roughly the same as the other big five European leagues combined. Chelsea paid £83 million for Shakhtar Donetsk winger Mykhaylo Mudryk over the weekend, following spending £60 million on Benoît Badiashile, David Fofana, and Andrey Santos in January and £278 million last summer.
The bubble appears to be armored. Because its lead over other leagues is growing, the Premier League can afford to spend more. Last season, broadcast and commercial revenue surpassed £10 billion for the first time, and stadiums were 97% full. Transfer spending climbed in the summer, but it remained unchanged from the previous year as a turnover percentage. As important, the Premier League is football’s Mos Eisley Cantina, with sheiks, oligarchs, autocratic governments, and hedge fund managers willing to do business, regardless of how uncomfortable it makes fans or clubs.
More money flows into Mos Eisley Cantina English clubs than the top seven. According to Deloitte’s most recent football rankings, Everton and Wolves now earn more than Milan, the seven-time European Cup champions, and Southampton earns more than Napoli, the Serie A champions. Numbers that seem perplexing. They are the pinnacle of English football’s financial monster.
The Premier League says that this is due to its wealth distribution. Norwich collected £100.3 million in prize money and broadcast revenue last year, while Manchester City received £161.3 million. The league’s 1.6-1 ratio has been lower for decades than other European leagues. It made it through Brexit, the cost-of-living crisis, and the Super League. Qatar wants to invest heavily in an English team, and Manchester United and Liverpool could be sold for billions in spring, giving the Premier League a Roaring Twenties vibe.
