Financial Prudence the Phrase of the Premiership Day

Back, oh, 18 months ago or so the Premiership was ridiculed and pilloried for their obscene spending which had seen them assemble rosters full of big name players and even bigger paychecks. Then, as Gareth Southgate predicted, the cycle ended – Florentino Perez entered, too – and suddenly Premiership clubs were no longer shelling out absurd fees for players.

Let’s call this the David Bentley effect.

Now, in a year in which that priceless fourth place – and thus boffo wheelbarrows of UEFA money – is well and truly up for grabs, January window spending has hit a seven year low. And someone brought back Mido. Just what the hell is going on?

From the authority on footballing finances, Deloitte:

English clubs’ spending was around 30 million pounds ($47.78 million) in the January transfer market, as much as for Italian Serie A clubs, compared to 170 million pounds last year, Deloitte said in a report after the deadline closed on Monday.

The 2010 estimate represents a new low for the top English clubs since January 2003, when it was 35 million pounds.

Yet another estimate:

Hence another report by KPMG consulting firm showed that Premier League clubs spent a total of 41.5 million pounds last month, little more than 20 percent of the estimated 190.5 million pounds spent in 2009.

Nearly one third of this amount is attributed to the fee that Manchester United have agreed for Fulham’s Chris Smalling, who is expected to join them at the end of the season, KPMG said.

The 2009 estimate is a stunning, near unbelievable figure.

Much of the speculation/analysis predicates on the banks’ willingness to hand out money to Premiership clubs – in short: they aren’t – but there’s something riding underneath the surface here: Michel Platini’s “no teams in the red” laws. The rule that states any team which is in debt – hello, Manchester United – can be booted from European competitions and perhaps even hit with worse.

No team will risk the kind of free cash, exposure, marketing potential and simple footballing prestige aligned with the Champions League, so finding a solid bottom line may well take priority over the coming years. Financial prudence is the new marquee signing.

Unless, of course, your name is Manchester City.

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Category: English Premier League