Premier League spending killing off European competition

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Modern day European football is the pinnacle of domestic and continental competition. It is the standard that leagues outside of the continent aspire to reach, with the Saudi Pro League trying its best to catch up to those in England, Spain, France, Italy and Germany.

Europe’s top five footballing leagues all had the financial power to assert their dominance, building a footballing pyramid where smaller leagues across the world developed their talent so that teams like Manchester United, Real Madrid, AC Milan and Bayern Munich could benefit. However, the landscape of European football is changing.

The English Premier League has evolved from a dying institution into the largest footballing brand on Earth. It has become a machine that consumes footballing talent in the way of players and managers like no other league in the history of the game.

The biggest tool the Premier League possesses is its financial strength. The resources at the disposal of each Premier League club has allowed lower-level teams to compete with some of the largest footballing institutions across the world. Seven-time UEFA Champions League winners, AC Milan, are missing out on top transfer targets to the likes of AFC Bournemouth and a newly-promoted Nottingham Forest.

The numbers behind this dominance are enormous. It is estimated that each club that is promoted from the English Championship is given more than 200 million euros.

This allows newly-promoted teams to enter the market and compete for highly-skilled players, players that more established and historically successful clubs would pursue. This has resulted in huge inflation in the player market.

Over the past ten seasons, Premier League clubs have spent more than 8.8 billion Euros. Averaging out to 440 million euros per club over the decade. If we compare this with their European competitors, specifically the other four members of what is considered Europe’s top five leagues, the difference is laughable.

In the past ten years the biggest spender outside the Premier League has been Serie A, spending one billion Euros. This averages out to 50 million Euros per club. In comparison, Chelsea have spent one billion euros in the past 12 months alone. The Spanish La Liga has collectively spent 467-million-Euros, which averages out to less than 20 million Euros per club.

The Bundesliga and French Ligue 1 have both made net profits over the last ten seasons. The Bundesliga made a 17-million-euro net profit on transfers. The 18 clubs in the league would have all made just under one million euros in profit. The French Ligue have a positive difference of 453 million euros. Over the past ten years the 18 clubs in Ligue 1 have on average made a 25-million-euro profit.

The Premier League’s financial might is in its own league. Combining the expenditure of Serie A, La Liga, Bundesliga and Ligue 1 would still not be enough. The Premier League’s spending would still be 4.5 times greater. Europe cannot compete with England and competition within the continent is slowly fading.

The emergence of the Saudi Pro League has shifted the financial landscape of European football.  There is now an entity that can outmuscle the Premier League at the top of the footballing pyramid, an option for European teams to sell without strengthening a continental rival.

This has unsettled Premier League clubs, but for the rest of the world, the English Premier League was already depleting their squads. At least now they have another option.

 

Photo: Twitter @sportbible

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Dylan Johnson