THERE’S three billion reasons why the Premier League is the world’s best.
That’s the amount clubs spent in the summer transfer window and dwarfs other domestic leagues.
It was more than the combined spending in Serie A, LaLiga, Bundesliga and Ligue 1.
We lead the world. We are the biggest and the best. Almost all the top players want to play in England.
Why? Because the Premier League is the best supported, best loved and best watched.
Let’s be honest, we’re a nation which has not exactly covered itself in glory in recent years.
We are building a new train line from Birmingham to London which is both hopelessly late and heading for something north of £80billion-plus.
We have a water-sewerage system which would embarrass a third-world country.
But the Prem, since its inception in 1992, has put this country on the footballing map.
Its latest four-year domestic TV rights deal is worth £6.7BN and it’s easily the most viewed league in the world, with an average ‘live’ gate of over 40,000 and sold-out signs at almost every single game. What is there not to be proud of?
This is a rare triumph for a nation which hasn’t had an awful lot to shout about in other areas of modern life.
So, the clubs spent over £3bn in this transfer window – a factor which has been criticised in some quarters, including Bayern Munich’s honorary president Uli Hoeness who insisted this level of spending “can’t end well”.
I detect sour grapes as both Florian Wirtz and Nick Woltemade chose Liverpool and Newcastle respectively over the German giants this summer.
Newly-promoted Sunderland spent more in the transfer window than any other foreign club other than Real Madrid and a record £1bn was paid out in the window between the 20 Premier League clubs — £200m more than last year.
This amounts to a very healthy situation where clubs are buying the top talent, both from abroad and from home.
That, in turn, means fans are watching the best pitted against the best, which is surely what everyone wants to see.
Squads throughout the Prem have been significantly improved this summer and that ensures the competitive element is retained.
Perm’s come a long way
This is the vital ingredient to the Premier League’s success.
The amount of money coming into the game and going out for the benefit of grassroots football again outstrips any other league by a country mile.
Supporters are watching the action unfold in some of the finest stadia in the world and can see some of the biggest names in the game.
It was oh so different in 1992-93, when the Prem started. The average attendance was just over 21,000 and the biggest gate was 44,000 for the Merseyside derby.
Many matches were played in dilapidated stadia which had so recently been battlegrounds between warring hooligans.
Yes, £3bn is a heck of a lot of money to spend, but as Ian Dury sang, ‘Reasons to be cheerful, part three.”
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