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Football’s Rich Will Continue to Get Richer

4 min read
by Editor
Paris Saint-Germain smashed the world transfer record to sign Neymar from Barcelona in the summer of 2017. The French outfit also spent heavily to secure the signature of Kylian Mbappe from Monaco, although the transfer will not be made permanent until the end of the campaign. The moves have allowed Unai Emery’s men to regain […]

Paris Saint-Germain smashed the world transfer record to sign Neymar from Barcelona in the summer of 2017. The French outfit also spent heavily to secure the signature of Kylian Mbappe from Monaco, although the transfer will not be made permanent until the end of the campaign.

The moves have allowed Unai Emery’s men to regain their stranglehold of Ligue 1 after losing out on the crown last season to Monaco. PSG also eased through to the first knockout round of the Champions League. Their efforts were matched in England by Manchester City and Manchester United, while Chelsea and Liverpool also invested heavily with significant net spends.

Breaking Down The Transfers

Tottenham broke their transfer record by signing Davinson Sanchez. However, their expenditure of £42m was a modest sum compared to their rivals in the Premier League and the Champions League. The club’s net spend for the 2017-18 campaign was -£2.5m before the arrival of Lucas Moura in the January transfer window.

City spent over £200m on reinforcements, including their £45m move to sign Kyle Walker. Pep Guardiola’s men have dominated the English top flight and are on course for a deep run in the Champions League. Their spending has played an integral part of their success, but cannot be sustainable in the long term for the game to remain competitive. Spurs chairman Daniel Levy is adamant that teams cannot continue to invest so much capital in the transfer market and operate their respective organisation in a financially prudent manner.

Tottenham and their north London rivals Arsenal have lived within their means even with the explosion in spending since the last television deal brought incredible riches to Premier League clubs. Unfortunately for the case of the two teams, it has not translated to success on the field, much to the frustration of both fanbases. Spurs have fallen short down the stretch in the past two seasons to secure the top-flight crown. This term, the performances of Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen have kept Mauricio Pochettino’s side in the hunt for a Champions League spot, which was predicted to be beyond them at the start of the term. However, there is a great deal of work ahead of them to retain their spot in Europe’s elite competition.

City have been a juggernaut this term and will only be encouraged to spend more to continue their dominance of English football. Guardiola’s system has been a joy to watch at times, although it’s hard to forget when watching them the amount that has spent assembling the talent on the field. While the Sky Blues remain successful their ambition to bolster their squad will not stop, especially if they are unable to clinch the one competition that has eluded them thus far – the Champions League.

The same can be said of Manchester United, who have invested just as heavily in the transfer market in the days since Sir Alex Fergusons’s departure. Jose Mourinho has complained about his lack of funding, but has still spent nearly £300m, including the then world-record fee of £90m for Paul Pogba’s signature. Romelu Lukaku arrived for £78m from Everton and performed well in the early stages of the season before cooling off. As a club United continue to boast record revenues, which will enable further spending, keeping them in the arms’ race with their bitter rivals.

Chelsea were the first side in the Premier League to spend significant sums on multiple players following the arrival of Roman Abramovich in 2003. The Russian financed transfers for Didier Drogba, Petr Cech, Arjen Robben, Claude Makelele and Ricardo Carvalho among others in his first two seasons. It brought the Blues a great deal of success, winning two Premier League crowns under Mourinho before his departure in 2007. Since then, the Blues have lived within their means, highlighted by their net total of £40m for the current campaign. The signings of Alvaro Morata, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Davide Zappacosta were offset by the departures of Diego Costa, Nemanja Matic and Nathan Ake. Although the club enjoyed success in the first term under Antonio Conte, the Champions League is the only aspect of their season keeping the Italian in the dugout.

The Future

The flow of money into the game shows no signs of stopping as television companies continue to invest significant capital. The desire for success from supporters also remains. However, one aspect of the sport that has changed is the determination to win the transfer window. In the time of social media, winning the battle for signings and the consequent viral campaigns around them has allegedly almost trumped triumphs on the field. It’s a market in itself as Neymar’s arrival at PSG earned the French outfit a huge amount of profit in shirt sales, earning back a percentage of his transfer fee.

Unfortunately for Tottenham, while the spenders continue to be successful on and off the pitch, transfer fees will continue to rise. Spurs will have to maintain their ability to select young players in the market and move for their signatures rather than prioritise men at the top of the tree. Fortunately for them, they’ve got two of the world’s best under contract, paying just £5m for Kane and Alli. If they continue to find and produce those gems they will have a chance to compete. However, the challenge remains from the teams that will continue to spend at the top of the market. As long as they’re successful it will continue and grow. Whether it’s good for the game is up for debate, but the rich continue to get richer.

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