(Football news) The Premier League has flexed its unrivalled financial prowess, especially in the January transfer window, spending £815m as compared to £198m spent by the top flights of Spain, Italy, Germany and France. Chelsea have spent an estimated £300 million in the January window on eight players as they look to salvage their Premier League season and attempt to qualify for the Champions League next season. 

Unlike just a few decades ago, where the likes of AC Milan could financially compete against the biggest clubs in the world, times have changed to such an extent that Bournemouth can spend £60m or £70m in one transfer window in January while other historically significant clubs cannot compete. This means that the Premier League can attract the top talent in world football simply by offering more money, which means that other leagues are essentially becoming feeder clubs to England’s top flight. This is becoming a concern for the leagues of Spain, Italy, France and Germany who are struggling to maintain the quality of their league and have urged FIFA and UEFA to enforce Financial Fair Play more effectively.

Chelsea smashed the British transfer record on deadline day by spending Benfica’s Enzo Fernandez for 121m euros (£107m). While criticism of the Premier League being commercially profitable is unjustified, it is a sad state of affairs that other leagues have effectively become feeder clubs for the Premier League, as they cannot compete with England’s top flight in terms of wages and transfer fees. According to Deloitte, England’s top flight clubs have accounted for 79% of spending across Europe’s top five leagues. According to Belgian football journalist Kristof Terreur, £1bn has been spent from England to France and £1bn from England to Germany.

With the COVID-19 pandemic, clubs around the world are struggling financially which has further motivated clubs to sell to English clubs in order to break even their accounts and possibly make a profit. Belgian clubs made a loss of 200m euros in the last accounting period and the Premier League has proved to be a saving grace for the clubs to sell their top talent. The European Super League was formed primarily to offset the desperate financial situation football clubs around Europe find themselves in, but the reality is that the Premier League is becoming a Super League in itself.

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