SPENDING POWER
Financial clout of Premier League has left European giants lagging behind
Two saves from a Basque, a penalty by a highly prized Belgian and seven goals shared between two £50million, France-born strikers and the English were back on top.
‘That means there is a great level in England,’ said Alexandre Lacazette, after Arsenal had booked into a Europa League final with Chelsea in Baku. Liverpool and Tottenham will dispute the biggest prize in Madrid.
‘we can say it is really the best league in the world,’ added his Arsenal strike partner Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Yet only two years ago, Leicester were the sole representatives in the last eight and there was no Premier League presence in the European semi-finals.
Spain dominated. Between Chelsea’s triumph in 2012 and Liverpool’s efforts last year, there were two all-Spanish finals, an all-German final and two featuring Juventus and a Spanish side.
The Europa League, meanwhile, was dismissed by English clubs as more trouble than it was worth until the award of a Champions League place to the winner refocused minds.
Liverpool, Manchester United, and now Arsenal and Chelsea have reached the final in the four years since. England’s strongest teams have always had the power to compete in the Europa League, they just needed the right motivation.
when it came to the barren years in the Champions League, managers liked to claim it was ‘cyclical’. This always felt like a cop-out but it holds some truth. Great players and their teams will inevitably fade. See Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
Barcelona still have Lionel Messi performing wonders but have lost the air of invincibility they had under Pep Guardiola.
Fortune’s wheel has turned, greased by Premier League spending power.
Ajax manager Erik ten Hag cut to the heart of it when asked if a weekend free from domestic football gave his side an unfair advantage over Tottenham.
Ajax, he pointed out, received less than £10m from the Dutch Eredivisie when Spurs banked £ 144m last season from the Premier League alone. These millions are invested to employ the world’s top coaches, provide huge backroom resources, fund academies and assemble lavish playing squads.
Premier League clubs spent £1.4billion in the summer transfer market following the Champions League flop in 2017, double that of the next highest- spending league, Italy’s Serie A.
It did not stop. Last year, Liverpool spent £75m on Virgil van Dijk, a world record for a defender, and bought a couple of midfielders for £50m each who don’t always get into the team.
Chelsea paid £74m for Kepa Arrizabalaga to break the record for a keeper set only a few weeks earlier by Liverpool’s £ 69m capture of Alisson.
In Valencia, they thought Lacazette and Aubameyang made all the difference: two strikers costing £107.4m. without them Arsenal are ordinary. with them firing, they could win the Europa League and if they do the investment will be considered good value. Spurs for 18 months have been an exception in the market but they are spending over £1bn on a new stadium and have smashed their wage structure to keep Pochettino and England captain Harry Kane.
But it has long since ceased to be the English game at the top of English football. The four managers in the European finals come from Germany, Argentina, Italy and Spain.
It is possible that no English players will start in Baku, although there will be a better representation in Madrid.
Still, these are English clubs enhancing their traditions and expanding their global reach, cementing their status.
The order has been restored. The wealthiest league is back on top, seizing on the vulnerabilities of the fallen icons of Spain and Germany and the ongoing travails, Juventus apart, of Italy.
The aim will be to stay there but there will be a backlash. No doubt it is being plotted right now in the counting houses of Real Madrid.