This is a piece written by Mike Calvin. Now I'm no fan of Calvin, indeed even this article is pretty poor but I do feel he has a general point about the Premier League now going out of fashion a bit. I said it last season - top players are now more likely to go to either La Liga's big two or the well run Bundesliga, and now you can add Monaco to PSG in Ligue 1 in terms of sheer financial muscle along with the Russians. The money is obviously phenomenal in this country but I do feel that the attractiveness of the league is now purely financial and not on grass. The league is now unable to attract the really top notch footballers, instead settling for the 'next level down' who are then paid as if they are 'top notch'. It's still a very good league, it can still be an exciting division but the overall standard of football is often turgid below the top six or seven and although I think the standard may rise again next season with a new influx of foreign players, it will still flatter to deceive because they aren't the very best money can buy. What do people think? http://www.lifesapitch.co.uk/opinions/is-the-premier-league-going-out-of-fashion/
Players have always preferred a move to Madrid or barca even when the Prem was dominating. And the majority of the worlds top attacking players have usually been.in La Liga. I still think given a choice between Man Utd and Bayern the majority would opt for the former and I think most other players would opt for Chelsea, City or Arsenal over Dortmund too. PSG and Monaco are short term but other than Falcao who have either of them signed which made you take note? In short, no.
falcao has grabbed the headlines with his move to monaco, and he is brilliant, but the real star capture is james rodriguez from porto. could be the best player in the world one day - sensational young player
I think the three Monaco have signed have already surpassed anything PSG have brought to France. And by a long way.
Falcao went for the money, hardly exactly Champions League football (given they are banned from this year) or the Ligue 1 (weakest of the top 5 European top tiers).
As irdan says, very few top class players have actually come to the PL in their prime. I would agree that the PL, while never very attractive to them, is becoming even less so rather than more so. What we are seeing now is generally good players from France, Spain and Portugal coming in due largely to the dire financial situation of many clubs in their own leagues (which is also why we've seen investment into PSG and Monaco -- getting in when the market is at it's lowest). My feeling is that the current TV rights deal probably represents the top as far as the PL goes and that particular source of revenue will reduce somewhat when this deal runs out. So it is hugely important from NCFC's point of view that the money is spent wisely to secure the long-term future of the club at the top level, rather than splashed out on over-ambitious short-term objectives and glory-chasing. Thankfully we have a board who have their heads screwed on and who don't view the club as any form of investment from which a return is required. Hopefully that goes for the majority of supporters as well.
Not sure I entirely agree with that statement. Just looking at players currently at Prem clubs: Aguero, David Silva, Mata, Hazard, Suarez, Kompany, Oscar, Torres, Ramires, Dzeko, Nani, Tevez, David Luiz, Cazorla, Ivanovic, Kagawa, Lukaku, Vertonghen, Vermaelen, de Gea, Javi Garcia, Cabaye (Kebab), Zabaleta, Papiss Cisse, Giroud.............. I could go on. I'm sure all of them would have had suitors elsewhere in Europe when they came to the Prem.
again, up for debate. Aguero, David Silva, Mata, Hazard, Suarez, Kompany, Oscar, Torres, Ramires, Dzeko, Nani, Tevez, David Luiz, Cazorla, Ivanovic, Kagawa, Lukaku, Vertonghen, Vermaelen, de Gea, Javi Garcia, Cabaye (Kebab), Zabaleta, Papiss Cisse, Giroud.............. those highlighted in bold were already near enough the finished article when signed. the rest are all either still developing or reached their peak on these shores
I think I might do just that! Just for comparison, here's some that went to La Liga and are still (currently) there: Ronaldo, Fabregas, Ozil, Pique, Modric, Benzema, Turan, Khedira, Mascherano, Coentrao, Song, Vela, Griezmann, Rakitic, Toulalan, Filipe
And of the lost by JK I'd argue no more than 3 would get in either the Barca or Madrid team. For me those being Aguero, Kompany and Mata. The best players in their prime are usually found in La Liga..even when the Prem was dominating Europe.
My personal opinion is that because there is so much money at stake, most clubs outside of the top eight or so approach every season with a 'survival at all costs' attitude. As a result some of the football can be quite dire to watch, we witnessed this ourselves for most of last season. Cup competitions have now become somewhat of a nusciance and weakend sides are put out by all of the top flight clubs. Shame.
What JK's list shows is that Champions League football is attractive to good players. Of his list of 25, only five joined clubs with no Champions League carrot -- Teves (West Ham, under rather strange circumstances), Cabaye & Cisse (Newcastle), Vertonghen (Spurs), Suarez (Liverpool).
I don't think the Premier League has ever had the absolute top players. Generally you will find most of the Worlds top 10 will play in Spain, I don't think its ever changed. They just have such strong links with South America. Italy used to be closer but the Premiership replaced them a long time ago. How often has the Premiership had the best player in the World, Ronaldo possibly, but I don't think its ever happened.
Real seem to get their debt written off whenever it suits them, commercially they make loads of money but budget wise I reckon they should of gone out of business years ago. Barcelona seem to have got it together with their youth policy, they'll still sign and attract the worlds greatest players but most of their success including the commercial/marketing side of things is all down to the youth policy which created the Messi's, Xavi's and Iniesta's etc. As for the French teams they are on steroids at the moment financially, I agree with Goldeneye about Falcao I like to see people be successful money wise but a player like that should be going for bigger challenges. The Premier League will compete properly when most of the clubs start producing young players of a exceptional standard, as a country we produce too many average players, once the technical ability improves and we get some clubs winning European sliverwave based on talent rather then buying trophies then we might see a change in the trend.
Oscar (21) and Hazard (22) already class and have a fair way to go until they reach their prime. Terrifying prospect Northampton, did you know @ the chasm developing in French football. Take a 100k after-tax euro salary. In France (e.g PSG) it costs the club 375k to pay that player, in Monaco it costs 110k. The advantage is 3x!!! Mind blowing and little wonder that Monaco atm is attracting these players with such a low tax rate. It is pathetic that they wish to play in front of a crowd that was on average 5,294. Mercenaries, plain and simple
