Spend, spend, spend as English clubs prepare for battle
LONDON (AFP) - Boosted by multi-million pound foreign takeovers and record television deals, England and #39;s leading football teams are splashing the cash on new players ahead of the forthcoming Premiership season.
Liverpool, who finished third last season, believe they can win their first league title for 18 years after paying a record 20 million pounds (30 million euros, 41 million dollars) for Spain striker Fernando Torres from Atletico Madrid.
The Reds, who were taken over towards the end of last season by American tycoons George Gillett and Tom Hicks, have also spent 11.5 million pounds to secure the services of Dutch forward Ryan Babel from Ajax.
The money-is-no-object approach of Liverpool and their Premiership rivals shows no sign of changing, according to a leading sports finance expert.
"I think this is going to be the biggest transfer window we have ever seen," Dan Jones of Deloitte and amp; Touche told AFP.
"It and #39;s not massively surprising because you and #39;ve got a number of new owners looking to reshape things and you and #39;ve got the new TV money coming in."
In June, Manchester City became the eighth current Premiership club to be taken over by foreign investors.
Aston Villa, Chelsea, Fulham, Liverpool, Manchester United, Portsmouth and West Ham are also owned by foreign businessmen.
Premiership clubs are being bought at a time when the income of each of the league and #39;s 20 teams is set to soar following a recent record-busting overseas television rights deal.
Booming demand from Asia and the Middle East has allowed the league to tie up contracts worth 625 million pounds for broadcasting rights for the next three seasons, boosting overall media income to 2.725 billion pounds, 60 percent above previous levels.
Thailand and #39;s ousted prime minster Thaksin Shinawatra earlier this summer paid 81.6 million pounds for Manchester City. He quickly installed former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson as City and #39;s new coach, who in turn has spent 13.5 million pounds on buying foreign players Rolando Bianchi and Martin Petrov.
City and #39;s neighbours United - winners of the Premiership last season - have spent 50 million pounds during the summer transfer window on Owen Hargreaves, Anderson and Nani.
The Premiership was the most profitable league in world football last season, with revenues of more than 1.4 billion pounds in 2006/07, according to Deloitte.
Other Premiership clubs who have had major investments this close-season are Newcastle - bought by British tycoon Mike Ashley - as well as Arsenal and Birmingham.
American billionaire Stan Kroenke purchased 12 percent of London side Arsenal, while Hong Kong businessman Carson Yeung grabbed a third of Birmingham, who won promotion to the elite division last season.
Arsenal and #39;s coffers have also been filled by the sale of Thierry Henry to Barcelona for 16.1 million pounds, of which 14 million has been used to sign Croatia striker Eduardo da Silva and French defender Bacary Sagna.
Chelsea, who in recent years have easily been the Premiership and #39;s biggest spenders, have paid out a relatively modest 13 million pounds on Lyon winger Florent Malouda.
Their other major signings - Claudio Pizarro, Steve Sidwell and Tal Ben Haim - have been free transfers. However the Blues have also handed England captain John Terry a new five-year contract, reported to be worth a record 135,000 pounds a week as the spending goes on.
taken from soccernews.com
Liverpool, who finished third last season, believe they can win their first league title for 18 years after paying a record 20 million pounds (30 million euros, 41 million dollars) for Spain striker Fernando Torres from Atletico Madrid.
The Reds, who were taken over towards the end of last season by American tycoons George Gillett and Tom Hicks, have also spent 11.5 million pounds to secure the services of Dutch forward Ryan Babel from Ajax.
The money-is-no-object approach of Liverpool and their Premiership rivals shows no sign of changing, according to a leading sports finance expert.
"I think this is going to be the biggest transfer window we have ever seen," Dan Jones of Deloitte and amp; Touche told AFP.
"It and #39;s not massively surprising because you and #39;ve got a number of new owners looking to reshape things and you and #39;ve got the new TV money coming in."
In June, Manchester City became the eighth current Premiership club to be taken over by foreign investors.
Aston Villa, Chelsea, Fulham, Liverpool, Manchester United, Portsmouth and West Ham are also owned by foreign businessmen.
Premiership clubs are being bought at a time when the income of each of the league and #39;s 20 teams is set to soar following a recent record-busting overseas television rights deal.
Booming demand from Asia and the Middle East has allowed the league to tie up contracts worth 625 million pounds for broadcasting rights for the next three seasons, boosting overall media income to 2.725 billion pounds, 60 percent above previous levels.
Thailand and #39;s ousted prime minster Thaksin Shinawatra earlier this summer paid 81.6 million pounds for Manchester City. He quickly installed former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson as City and #39;s new coach, who in turn has spent 13.5 million pounds on buying foreign players Rolando Bianchi and Martin Petrov.
City and #39;s neighbours United - winners of the Premiership last season - have spent 50 million pounds during the summer transfer window on Owen Hargreaves, Anderson and Nani.
The Premiership was the most profitable league in world football last season, with revenues of more than 1.4 billion pounds in 2006/07, according to Deloitte.
Other Premiership clubs who have had major investments this close-season are Newcastle - bought by British tycoon Mike Ashley - as well as Arsenal and Birmingham.
American billionaire Stan Kroenke purchased 12 percent of London side Arsenal, while Hong Kong businessman Carson Yeung grabbed a third of Birmingham, who won promotion to the elite division last season.
Arsenal and #39;s coffers have also been filled by the sale of Thierry Henry to Barcelona for 16.1 million pounds, of which 14 million has been used to sign Croatia striker Eduardo da Silva and French defender Bacary Sagna.
Chelsea, who in recent years have easily been the Premiership and #39;s biggest spenders, have paid out a relatively modest 13 million pounds on Lyon winger Florent Malouda.
Their other major signings - Claudio Pizarro, Steve Sidwell and Tal Ben Haim - have been free transfers. However the Blues have also handed England captain John Terry a new five-year contract, reported to be worth a record 135,000 pounds a week as the spending goes on.
taken from soccernews.com
posted by Soccers Mania at
7:54 AM
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