Scudamore: Transfer spree IS sustainable
IT HAS been a summer of mega-spending by the Premier League big guns — and it shows no sign of slowing down. Manchester City alone have spent £133million on three full backs — Kyle Walker, Benjamin Mendy and Danilo — in the past 10 days.
But Premier League executive chairman richard Scudamore insists the spree remains sustainable. ‘ Profitability is improving,’ insists Scudamore.
‘The most important thing is player costs as a percentage of turnover. We’re down in the early 60 per cents and we were much higher 10 years ago. Sixty per cent of turnover spent on player costs is actually very manageable.’
But what of a breakaway from the league’s Big Six? At a previous summit, when a huddle from Manchester United, City, Chelsea, Tottenham, Liverpool and Arsenal formed to discuss the latest TV deal in China, it raised eyebrows.
‘We don’t live every day thinking of a breakaway threat,’ says Scudamore. ‘ We do live every day thinking, “Are we doing what the clubs would have us do to take the league forward?”.
‘our modus operandi is to keep this a cohesive league with all the clubs wanting to be a part of it. It’s about making sure those conditions that may spawn the thought of a breakaway don’t exist, and right now we are in a very good position.’
Scudamore is in bullish form, and understandably so. The latest foreign TV deals promise incredible revenue rises and the Premier League’s Asia Trophy is the latest example of how popular the competition is around the world, with 80,000 fans flocking to see Liverpool, Leicester, Crystal Palace and West Brom play four exhibitions in stifling heat.
But while the league may be in good health, the national team is not, and many believe the two are linked. ‘ We have to be realistic,’ says Scudamore. ‘our clubs can buy any player if they wanted to. They can scout the world. The idea that a local boy born and raised two miles from the club is going to get into that first team on a sustained basis at our very top clubs — it will happen but it won’t happen every week or year.
‘The idea that the 11 who started in England’s (European Championship and World Cup winning) Under 19s or Under 20s are all going to be challenging for the Premier League title in three years’ time? Let’s be realistic.’
Scudamore is cautious on the issue of safe standing, too. ‘We are in the middle of a detailed consultation with fan groups and clubs,’ Scudamore says.
‘We have no position yet. The only thing I would say is I don’t think (support for safe standing) is as universal as some of the supporter groups would have you believe. We have to consider the wider public, not just those with the loudest voices.
‘Even if the view is we would like to introduce it, we have to convince the Government. I haven’t in my time met a sports minister who wants to reverse the legislation on their watch.’