Currency notes talk louder than ever in the English Premier League
Angus MacKinnon
If it was not Roman Abramovich spending 30 million pounds on a Andriy Shevchenko, it was Ashley Cole flouncing out of Arsenal in a hissy fit over their ‘disrespectful’ offer of a new contract worth 55,000 pounds a week.
No sooner had the ink dried on a forecast-busting new television deal than Dubai’s accountants were poring over Liverpool’s books with the aim of wrapping up a 450-million-pound takeover of the five-times European champions. Money has never talked louder in English football than it did in 2006. And with the enhanced television cash that will kick in from next season acting like a dose of financial Viagra, never have the country’s top clubs appeared so attractive to suitors from around the world. By this time next year it is conceivable — likely even — that half the Premiership’s 20 clubs will be in foreign hands.
If the Dubai bid goes through, Liverpool will follow in the footsteps of Chelsea, Manchester United, Fulham, Portsmouth, Aston Villa and West Ham. Everton, Manchester City and Newcastle look good bets to take a similar route in 2007 as global investors scramble for control of businesses which have seen their outlook transformed by the prospect of sharing broadcasting revenues that will exceed two billion pounds over the course of the 2007/08, 2008/09 and 2009/10 seasons. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has warned that the influx of foreign capital threatens “the soul of football.”
