Man Utd and Milan move over,after years of dominance and control at the top-end of the sport.The
top teams have seen their power weaken as more leagues and rivals
threaten their hegemony.
When Arsene Wenger actually agrees to spend €50 million on one player, you know it has been one hell of a transfer window.
And that is exactly what it was. This has been a summer that could
signal the beginning of a new era in European football. For the first
time in at least two decades, the established order is being seriously
threatened - and potentially overthrown - by new challengers.
Since the creation and then expansion of the Champions League, Bayern
Munich have been - until the recent arrival of PSG - the only European
superpower outside of the Premier League, La Liga or Serie A. Barring
the odd anomaly - such as Porto’s shock 2004 success – just a handful of
teams from these three countries have been equipped to conquer the
previously-named European Cup. Eight clubs have won the last 16 editions
- Barcelona and Real Madrid six of them - compared to 13 teams from
nine nations who shared out the 16 titles before that.
All of the individual talent and wealth has been – with the exception
of Bayern – largely monopolised by the English ‘Big Four’, Madrid,
Barca, Juventus, Milan and Inter.
This summer, though, the elite
have been handed a rude awakening. Madrid may boast Carlo Ancelotti’s
“best-ever squad” following the world record €100m signing of Gareth
Bale, Barcelona may have snapped up Brazilian superstar Neymar, Arsenal
may have created a club record transfer fee with a €50m Mesut Ozil,
Bayern may have added two more potential world-beaters in Thiago and
Mario Gotze, and Juventus, Chelsea and Manchester City may have all
strengthened their personnel also – but the dominance these aristocrats
once held over their dominions has weakened substantially.
Football at the highest level has once
again expanded its borders. There are now five major European leagues –
both in a sporting and financial sense. The all-German Champions League
final in May was no accident and the Bundesliga – so self-sufficient and
immune to any further European economic downturn – will continue to
grow. Bayern are favourites to retain the Champions League, while last
season’s runners-up Borussia Dortmund have arguably improved having only
lost Gotze to their bitter rivals. Until recently, Dortmund would have
seen their multi-talented squad picked apart in the summer market – like
Porto’s Champions League winners of 2004 were – but BVB have proved
they are now a major player, even beating the Premier League to the
signing of Shakhtar midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
Paris Saint-Germain may have already unofficially joined the elite
with the takeover by QIA in 2011, but Monaco’s buyout by Russian
billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev means that Ligue 1 now houses many of
Europe’s best players – and more superstars than both Serie A and the
Premier League. The nouveau-riche duo splashed a whopping €277m between
them this summer, beating the EPL to the world’s two best penalty box
strikers in Radamel Falcao and Edinson Cavani as well as stars such as
Marquinhos, James Rodriguez and Joao Moutinho. It is inevitable that one
of these two powerhouses will win the Champions League during the next
five years and thus end a Ligue 1 dry spell that dates back, fittingly,
to the very first edition of the rebranded competition in 1993 when
Marseille – who have also assembled a decent side – controversially
lifted the trophy.
With the exception of Spain’s La Liga, which is tediously and
unfairly dominated by two teams, football has once again become
competitive again. The astronomical new English television deal, which
will supply a total of around €6.4bn (£5.5bn) in broadcasting rights
over the next three seasons, has ensured that – from top to bottom – the
Premier League is at its most competitive ever. Never before have
modest sides like Norwich, Swansea and Southampton (unless you go back
over 30 years to the shock signing of Kevin Keegan) been able to dream
of stars of the calibre of Ricky van Wolfswinkel, Wilfried Bony and
Pablo Osvaldo. Six teams will fight it out for four Champions League
places - even Manchester United and Arsenal, ever-presents in the
competition for well over a decade, will be sweating over their
participation. Tottenham may have lost Bale, but they replaced him with
Paulinho, Erik Lamela, Roberto Soldado, Etienne Capoue, Nacer Chadli and
Christian Eriksen.
HEY BIG SPENDERS | Top 10 clubs by expenditure
HEY BIG SPENDERS | Top 10 clubs by expenditure
In Serie A also, Napoli and Fiorentina have developed into two of
Europe’s most feared sides – signing top class players previously
reserved only for those at the apex of the footballing pyramid. Napoli
were comfortably the heaviest spenders in Italy (and sixth in Europe),
bringing in the likes of Real Madrid trio Gonzalo Higuain, Raul Albiol
and Jose Callejon, Liverpool’s Pepe Reina and PSV’s Dries Mertens.
Fiorentina now play arguably the most entertaining football on the
continent having added Bayern goal-machine Mario Gomez to their ranks.
Traditional giants Milan and Inter have been caught by less storied
outfits. The
Nerazzurri are highly unlikely to qualify for next season's Champions League, while the
Rossoneri face a battle.
The vast managerial changes at the top-end of the game will also work
against the elite in the short-term. This was a summer that saw
Manchester United legend Sir Alex Ferguson retire, Jose Mourinho return
to Chelsea and Manchester City, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern, PSG and
Inter appoint new coaches. There is bound to be a post-Ferguson blip at
Old Trafford, a bedding-in period for Pep Guardiola in Munich and major
challenges for all the new men in charge. Vulnerable, now is the perfect
time for the challengers to strike.
While we will sadly never return to the days where a successful team
could be built without money – such as when Brian Clough took Nottingham
Forest from the English Second Division to European Cup glory in the
space of two years – and we will never see Romanian and former
Yugoslavian outfits rule the continent again, this summer has been a big
victory for the chasing pack.
With more major leagues and more
major teams, the Champions League elite who thought they could maintain
control forever have lost their power.
