It's teams like Liverpool and Spurs that are in more danger than the likes of Chelsea and City. It's us the other teams are gunning for before they can dream of competing with the likes of City. Yet I think the league is fantastic. I think the Stoke's, Palace, Watford's of this world are improving regardless of how the normal top 4 do. I just take it as a snobby PoV when one of the 'big boys' aren't doing too well and some fans decide to blame their decline on how the league is poor as oppose to their team being poor. Maybe the 'big boys' have hit the ceiling, have ran out of ideas or are just plain **** and full of spoilt brats.
I'd agree they are full of spoiled brats. I do think its interesting that watford can spend 15mil on a team that competed well last year in championship but did go on a run late to get 2nd and not play offs (won 5 of last 6 and drew final game to just miss title) can jump in prem and go so well. I do think there is a lot of money about but most of it is running through the clubs like a dose of salts to the agents and brats, the spending is interesting. I looked about and saw this... now numbers are never great indicators as a lot of opinion goes into them but.... 20. Southampton: - £900,000 please log in to view this image They didn't sell quite as much talent this summer as they did last year and still brought in several new faces, but Southampton still came out of the transfer window making a net profit of £900,000. Notable Ins: Virgil van Dijk was the most expensive of the arrivals, costing in the region of £11m, while Jordy Clasie was also a significant buy. Even Steven Caulker's loan came at a small price. Notable Outs: The Saints' two major exits saw Morgan Schneiderlin and Nathaniel Clyne leave for Manchester United and Liverpool, respectively, for a combined fee of around £36.5m. 19. Tottenham Hotspur: £315,000 please log in to view this image Tottenham went big this summer when they made Son Heung-min the most expensive Asian player of all time. They really wanted Saido Berahino, too, but Spurs' overall sales meant their net spend was just £315,000. Notable Ins: Son cost the club more than £20m and accounted for almost half of the summer expenditure, while Kieran Trippier, Kevin Wimmer, Toby Alderweireld and Clinton N'Jie took the figure just north of £50m. Notable Outs: The clear-out continued as most of the remaining players bought with the Gareth Bale money, as Roberto Soldado, Paulinho and Etienne Capoue were among those who left. 18. Aston Villa: £1.23m please log in to view this image Aston Villa and Tim Sherwood certainly weren't shy in the transfer market. After narrowly avoiding relegation last season, the Villans bought in more than 10 new faces, but key sales kept their net spend down to just £1.23m. Notable Ins: The three Jordans, Amavi, Ayew and Veretout were the priciest of the bunch, along with Barcelona schooled teenager Adama Traore. With more than £45m spent, Micah Richards was a shrewd free transfer. Notable Outs: The sales of Christian Benteke and Fabian Delph to Liverpool and Manchester City, respectively brought in more than £40m. The club also recouped money from the sales of Matthew Lowton and Andreas Weiman. 17. Stoke City: £3.21m please log in to view this image Stoke played the transfer market very well this summer, adding to a growing list of continental stars to bring the club into the 21st century, all the while with a net outlay of a shade over £3m. Notable Ins: Xherdan Shaqiri's £12m arrival was a huge statement about the direction in which the Potters want to head in. They also spent money on Philipp Wollscheid and Joselu, but Mark Hughes has also done well with free agents. Notable Outs: Stoke commanded decent fees for Asmir Begovic and Steven N'Zonzi, while Robert Huth's sale took the summer income up towards the £20m mark. 16. Norwich City: £5.29m please log in to view this image Not an awful lot changed at Norwich this summer, leaving Alex Neil with a very similar squad to the one that pushed the Canaries to promotion via last season's Championship playoffs. Just £5.2m was the net spend in Norfolk. Notable Ins: Graham Dorrans arrived for a small fee almost as soon as 2014/15 was over, while Robbie Brady cost around £7m. A small fee was also paid to loan Andre Wisdom from Liverpool. Notable Outs: Until Bradley Johnson's deadline day sale to Derby County, Norwich's only other sale had been the negligible fee received from Luton for Cameron McGeehan. 15. Arsenal: £8.05m please log in to view this image Arsenal fans were waiting all summer for their club to break the bank and land a world class striker. When deadline day came, it came with little noise for the Gunners and a fraction over £8m was all they spent, net, this summer. Notable Ins: Arsenal were actually the only club in Europe's top five leagues not to sign a single senior outfield player, meaning Petr Cech for £10m was the only arrival. Notable Outs: Plenty of fringe and young players were released, but the only departure that brought any financial return was Lukas Podolski's switch to Galatasaray. 14. Swansea City: £8.61m please log in to view this image Swansea didn't go mad spending money this summer. Garry Monk was still able to strengthen an already strong squad with a few key buys and a star free agent, though, keeping the net spend down to just shy of £9m. Notable Ins: Eder and Franck Tabanou were the only new signings bought for any fee of note. The best business easily looks to be the capture of Ghanaian star Andre Ayew for nothing. Notable Outs: Jazz Richards was only the player that brought the Swans any money, commanding around £500,000 as he moved to Fulham. 13. Crystal Palace: £16.38m please log in to view this image A lack of transfer activity was allegedly what caused the rift between Tony Pulis and the Crystal Palace board on the eve of last season, As a result it was almost guaranteed they would back Alan Pardew this time around, with a net outlay of more than £16m. Notable Ins: The arrivals of Yohan Cabaye, Connor Wickham and Alex McCarthy accounted for around a £20m spend, while Bakary Sako already looks to be an inspired free signing. Notable Outs: Sales were thin on the ground until the final day of the transfer window, as the Eagles recouped a small amount from selling Glenn Murray to Bournemouth. 12. Liverpool: £16.49m please log in to view this image Liverpool were always going to be busy in the transfer market this summer, but the Reds were really freed up to make an even bigger statement when Raheem Sterling was finally sold to Manchester City. Their net spend was just over £16m in the end. Notable Ins: Almost as soon as Sterling was in Manchester, Liverpool triggered Christian Benteke's £32.5m release clause, with the Belgian joining an already expensive list of signings, including Roberto Firmino and Nathaniel Clyne. Notable Outs: Liverpool received the best part of £50m for Sterling, while also taking money from the sales of Fabio Borini, Rickie Lambert and Sebastian Coates. They even charged for the loans of Andre Wisdom and Tiago Ilori. *Danny Ings' tribunal fee, expected to be £8m, is not included in the data. 11. Chelsea: £16.7m please log in to view this image Until the final couple of weeks of the transfer window it had been a quiet one for Chelsea. That is, until the defending champions got off to a terrible start to the new season and quickly fought to fix it. Sensible selling as always, meant their spend was still shy of £17m. Notable Ins: Pedro Rodriguez and Baba Rahman from Barcelona and Augsburg, respectively, arrived for a combined fee significantly north of £30m. Money was also spent on Brazilian teenagers Nathan and Kenedy, while Papy Djilobodhi and Michael Hector were bought on deadline day. Notable Outs: Filipe Luis, just one year after arriving from Atletico Madrid, and Petr Cech were the most high profile sales. Chelsea also charge Juventus and Roma for the privilege of loaning Juan Cuadrado and Mohamed Salah, respectively. 10. Everton: £18.59m please log in to view this image Had Everton caved to Chelsea's whim and sold John Stones for a record fee of up to £40m they would have been in significant profit this summer. That is, assuming they wouldn't have then spent it all in one go. As it was their net spend at Goodison Park was nearly £20m. Notable Ins: After Gerard Deulofeu's move from Barcelona, the Toffees actually did very little until a flurry of late activity saw the arrivals of South American pair Leandro Rodriguez and Ramiro Funes Mori, as well as Aaron Lennon. Notable Outs: A lot of players left the club this summer, but Chris Long's move to Burnley was the only one that brought any cash - around £1m. 9. Leicester City: £20.3m please log in to view this image Spending money was always going to be important for Leicester if they were to avoid another relegation fight. The Foxes' owners binned Nigel Pearson, but invested in the team, spending just a little more than £20m, net. Notable Ins: Leicester didn't blow a lot of money on any single player - Shinji Okzaki was the most expensive at around £8m - but they bought across the board to fill a number of positions. Notable Outs: They did well selling, too, commanding good fees for Chris Wood, who joined Leeds, and David Nugent, who joined Middlesbrough. 8. AFC Bournemouth: £21.7m please log in to view this image Bournemouth can certainly not be excused of taking the challenge of the Premier League lightly. In their first ever top flight season, the Cherries' net spend comes in at more than £21m as they scoured high and low for depth and experience. Notable Ins: A star of the future, Tyrone Mings arrived for around £8m, while Bournemouth spent almost as much on Max Gradel - both have unfortunately already been struck down with long-term injury. Glenn Murray and Lee Tomlin also arrived. Notable Outs: Despite interest in star players, Eddie Howe managed to keep his promotion winning squad together. The negligible amount received for cult hero Brett Pitman was all the money that came in. 7. West Brom: £22.39m please log in to view this image West Brom have been busy in each of the last two summers, but there is a feeling that this time there is more quality among the new faces. Had the Baggies sold Saido Berahino at the death they would have been in profit, but as it was, their net spend totalled around £22m. Notable Ins: For the second year in a row the club transfer record was broken when Salomon Rondon joined from Zenit St Petersburg. The combined amount spent on James Chester and Jonny Evans was also significant, at around £14m. Notable Outs: Brown Ideye, West Brom's last record buy was shipped out to Olympiacos for around a third of what he'd arrived for. Graham Dorrans was sold to Norwich, while Joleon Lescott joined Aston Villa. 6. Sunderland: £24.58m please log in to view this image Sunderland needed reinforcement all across the field to avoid another desperate relegation fight, particular in defence and up front. The board spent almost £25m, net, but only time will tell if they bought the right individuals and the right quality. Notable Ins: Younes Kaboul and Sebastian Coates to shore up the defence - they have yet to show their ability - while the combined arrivals of Jeremain Lens and Fabio Borini cost around £16m. Notable Outs: Connor Wickham's £7m move to Crystal Palace was the only major exit, but the Blacks Cats did at least receive a small amount to send Emanuele Giaccherini out on loan. 5. Manchester United: £26.21m please log in to view this image Manchester United aren't usually a selling club but they certainly did plenty of it this summer to offset what was another large outlay on a whole host of new stars. For all they did, United's net spend was still only a little over £26m. Notable Ins: There's some discrepancy over the fee, but either way the deadline day arrival of Anthony Martial was the most expensive at Old Trafford. Morgan Schneiderlin and Memphis Depay also cost plenty, but Matteo Darmian and Bastian Schweinsteiger were relative bargains. Notable Outs: Angel Di Maria's time at United came to an end after just 12 months as he was sold to PSG for £44m. The money kept rolling in as Rafael, Nani, Robin van Persie, Javier Hernandez, Jonny Evans and others were also sold. 4. West Ham United: £27.3m please log in to view this image West Ham's co-chairmen were keen to make a splash in the transfer market from the very beginning this summer, regularly teasing and making all kinds of promises via social media platforms. In the end they mostly delivered, with a near £30m net spend. Notable Ins: Davids, Sullivan and Gold were practically shouting from the rooftops that Dimitri Payet had been bought for 'eight figures', while they also flexed financial muscle to sign Pedro Obiang, Angelo Ogbonna and Michail Antonio. Notable Outs: In the end Stewart Downing was the only player to leave Upton Park for money, bought by former club Middlesbrough for north of £5m. 3. Watford: £30.91m please log in to view this image Watford's sizeable net spend of £30m is more the result of volume than particularly big outlays on individual players. The Hornets have, if anything, over-prepared for their first top flight season in eight years with 13 new faces. Notable Ins: Etienne Capoue and Jose Manuel Jurado were the most expensive acquisitions, but Steven Berghius, Obbi Oulare, Valon Berhami and other all commanded fees. Victor Ibarbo's deadline day loan also came with a price tag. Notable Outs: Not many is the answer. Fernando Forestieri joined Sheffield Wednesday for a couple of million, while Lewis McGugan's move to Hillsborough was made permanent for a small fee. 2. Newcastle United: £45.2m please log in to view this image After sanctioning several expensive buys, Newcastle owner Mike Ashley can no longer be accused of showing a lack ambition. The Magpies net spend this summer was slightly more than £45m and much improvement is expected. Notable Ins: Only Alan Shearer and Michael Owen have ever cost more at Newcastle than Georginio Wijnadldum. Aleksandar Mitrovic and Florian Thauvin each cost almost as much, while Chancel Mbema's price tag was still north of £8m as well. Notable Outs: A lot of players were released at the end of last season, including fan favourite, Jonas Gutierrez. However, only Davide Santon and Medi Abeid were actually sold for money. 1. Manchester City: £94.66m please log in to view this image Manchester City relinquished their Premier League title without much of a fight in 2014/15. As a result the owners knew bringing in quality new players was vital, no matter the cost. That is exactly what they did, with a net spend of nearly £95m - by far the most in the division. Notable Ins: The sky blues broke their club transfer record to buy Raheem Sterling from Liverpool in July and smashed it again in August to prise Kevin De Bruyne away from Wolfsburg. Nicolas Otamendi also arrived for £30m. Notable Outs: The significant exit saw Alvaro Negredo make his move to Valencia a permanent one. A number of other player sales also brought in money, including Matija Nastasic, Rony Lopes, Scott Sinclair and Karim Rekik.
Unless their team is running away with the league, "the league is poor" claim is effectively saying their team is poor too. Clearly something isn't (or wasn't) right at Chelsea as they have been truly **** so in that instance, its clearly the team. As for most others, I think its a case of everyone has money with the few exceptions that have done well without spending. Man City and Arsenal (on paper) can't really improve too much more whereas the likes of West Ham, Crystal Palace, etc can improve and they've got the money to do so. It means players like Bojan and Shaqiri that the so-called clubs aren't prepared to take a gamble on will join the next tier of clubs, therefore improving them and closing the gap and the "better" clubs. The bottom is getting better whilst the top (Man City and Arsenal) stand still or, in some cases (Man Utd and Chelsea) get worse. Spurs are inbetween the two imo. They were there or thereabouts but never quite good enough so had room to improve. Everton and Liverpool should be the same but the former lack the cash and the latter just keep pissing cash up the wall
basically money is not really a factor in success it seems. I see teams who've spent loads in the bottom and teams who've spent nothing. Stability is helping most, plus of course quality. Arsenal are very stable. they've added one guy a window or a summer. and added quality only. Spurs have just added 3 Son, alli, alderweirld. Thats enough but poch is the main factor in building on a steady first year to be there to pick up the pieces off cheslea this year. Utd on the other hand have not got it right and are talking big but not delivering. LFC figures are low but we've done everything in our power to be unstable. Newcastle and villa and sunderland are basket cases in terms of purchasing and in terms of managerial changes and years of stupidity have placed them there. Watford are interesting, Leicester are interesting, west ham are interesting... i'm a bit surprised that some of these are high up on the net spend but there you go. In short.... LFC would want to take a cold hard look at this cos we've managed to spend the golden goose fees using a mad committee, sack the manager and keep the rest of it etc etc. We could easily end up like newkie. Spurs blew thier wad but then end up getting it more right through letting the manager get on with it.
They actually added Alli a year ago and loaned him back to MK Dons for the reminder of the 2014-15 season. They've also brought a fair amount of youngsters through too so they've added more than those three (yes, most played last year too)
I think europe shows the truth of it to us all. LFC were barely able to crawl past really low level European teams. We got put in our place last year by bilic and besiktas and before that basel. Utd got handed their heads by a really weak group. arsenal nearly ****ed it right up. city were unimpressive and cheslea bascially had a group they were seeded to walk.... they all could go out easily next round again this year. Arsenal will most likely. city look like they got the easy draw but they can **** anything up they way they go and cheslea have lost to PSG lots. we can't hide from this pasting our clubs get.
no you won't summary: money wasted = useless money well spent with stability = good recipe for improvement.
true.... he is still a newb this year though. I'd not really consider anyone who poch had under him last year as new though.. even if a kid. they've added three real first team most week players in alderweirld, alli and son. poch has then worked on the rest last year in what i called just a steady year and now is reaping the rewards of decent buys and having a good stable base and the time to get them playing his way. you can see in thier football he's drilled them to death on two touch football. Contrast to utd who've spent ... shall we say very mixed this year and despite the manager being in for a full year seem to have not bought into the style and really struggle then contrast to us.... we've shelled it out, then sacked the manager so the new guy's not drilled the players to his ways fully, the players are a right mixed bag and it looks a total mess. You do have to wonder however............... are they all boom and bust cycles? even if klopp gets it spectacularly right.. or van gaal or poch... will it all go once they do and a new coaching staff and man swans in and rips it up?
Ward Clyne Lovren Sakho Moreno Henderson Can Lallana Allen Coutinho Firmino ? Could Klopp be the making of Allen?
Sooner we get Allen, Coutinho and Sturridge in for Milner, Lallana and Ibe, the sooner we can begin to climb the table.
i don't think the league is ****, just it's more competitive now and I think money is one of the main reasons and because of this it's affecting the teams in Europe. What at used to happen was the top teams in England could almost bully the clubs into selling their best players. So it made the top teams stronger and weakened their rivals. Much like we see in Spain, Germany, Scotland where there are 1 or 2 rich clubs. In England teams aren't selling their best players which means the top clubs have to take moe gambles, going abroad more to buy foreign players and hoping they'll adapt to the prem which can be hit or miss. How many top clubs have brought real quality from abroad in last few years. City - de bruyne. United - do Maria started well but then failed. Depay is failing. Martial not really excelled yet. Chelse - Costa maybe? Pedro has failed so far... Arsenal - probably best with oil and Sanchez Us - firm hasn't hit heights yet. This isn't saying buying prem is better but it is riskier buying abroad and it seemed easier for the top clubs when they could just snap up the best talent in the league.
Buying from the PLis an expensive gamble. Benteke, Lovren, Lallana. Value for money? I think buying from abroad can be safer as long as the player is well scouted and is good with the language (o willing to learn).
