Foreign clubs are the "main beneficiaries of the Premier League's transfer dealings and will continue to be so with forthcoming increases in broadcast revenue," financial analysts predicted as the summer window "finally closed" this week, according to Steve Tongue of REUTERS. Although many fees "remain unofficial, it was generally agreed that of the 10 most expensive deals involving English clubs since the end of last season, seven of the players were bought from other leagues." Germany's Bundesliga benefited most, with VfL Wolfsburg, Hoffenheim and Bayer Leverkusen receiving almost $153.09M between them for Kevin de Bruyne (sold to Man City), Roberto Firmino (Liverpool) and Son Heung-min (Tottenham Hotspur), respectively. Gross transfer fees to overseas clubs of £585M ($895M) were 10% up on the previous year, according to the annual analysis by the Deloitte business advisory firm. Deloitte's Alex Thorpe said, "Since the introduction of the new (Premier League) broadcast deal for 2013-14, spending on overseas players has nearly doubled." Given that a "lucrative new domestic broadcast deal," a 70% increase on the existing one, comes into effect next season, with overseas rights still to be negotiated, Thorpe sees "no reason why the current trends will not continue." He added, "Looking to the future, the biggest factor driving transfer spending has been broadcast revenue, so that has already been taken care of for the next three years" (REUTERS, 9/2). In London, David Conn wrote the "astonishing amount of money spent in this summer 2015 transfer window by the two Manchester clubs on three particular players has lent the impression that football has gone mad again." Despite the "jaw-dropping scale of some transfer fees," this was not a year of "great increase overall." Nevertheless, the '13-16 TV deals have "already raised the Premier League into a financial firmament way above that of any other league;" the next richest, the Bundesliga, has deals from '13-17 amounting to £2.8B ($4.3B), "well under half the Premier League bounty for the same period." This Premier League "financial dominance, set to widen exponentially again from next year, largely explains the overwhelming majority of players brought in from overseas again this summer," with British signings constituting "a fraction." With the exception of Brendan Rodgers at Liverpool, Tony Pulis at West Bromwich Albion and Alan Pardew at Crystal Palace -- "all, significantly, British" -- the managers at the 17 other clubs "have spent the largest portions of their fortunes on the continent" (GUARDIAN, 9/2).
BIGGEST GAMBLE?: In London, John Dillon wrote, Arsenal Manager Arsène Wenger "may still have some explaining to do later in the season if Arsenal's decision not to spend big in the window just closed costs them dearly in the title race." One fans' group is "already demanding to know why all the money is still in the bank." He will have his answers "prepared already, however." But here is where we are "at the end of the mania." Wenger, in fact, "is the elite level manager who has taken the biggest gamble of all by spending the least." He is the one who has staked his reputation "more riskily than anyone else" -- far more, in fact, than Manuel Pellegrini of Man City, whose name, at least, is on the spending of £55M ($84M) on a player who has "failed in England once already," De Bruyne. Furthermore, even if Wenger's decision not to strengthen his squad beyond the signing of Petr Cech "does mean they fail again in the title race, is he really going to admit he was wrong and take a hit?" The gamble he has taken "is seen in the eyes of the rest of the sport." Another failure will not "harm his mind-set at all." He will "just be more sure than ever that football has gone crazy" (EVENING STANDARD, 9/2). REUTERS' Simon Jennings reported the Arsenal Supporters' Trust has called on the Premier League club to carry out a "full review" of recruitment policy following a "quiet transfer window" where Cech was the "only major addition" to the squad. The lack of arrivals is "not for a paucity of money." In July, Arsenal Dir Philip Harris said that the Gunners had the money to sign "anyone but Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi" and had more than £200M ($306M) in the bank. The AST said in a statement, "Arsenal are in a strong financial position and it is of course disappointing that (the) transfer window has closed with just the signing of Petr Cech" (REUTERS, 9/2).
IMAGE CRISIS: In London, Mark Ogden wrote the "inevitability of an ugly blame-game breaking out" between ManU and Real Madrid over the David de Gea "transfer fiasco -- one which, it appears, was more to do with Real's delaying tactics" than ManU's -- has "merely proved to be the latest unseemly episode in a transfer window that has inflicted reputational damage on the self-styled biggest club in the world." ManU and Exec Vice-Chair Ed Woodward have pursued a "deliberate policy of targeting players employed by their super-club rivals, and in the case of De Gea, only engaging with Real during the final hours of the window." ManU is now "developing a similar reputation for bluster and unpredictability among the game's powerbrokers and the only victims are likely to be themselves," with the best players, most influential agents and top clubs "wary of engaging in transfer discussions with the club." During the Alex Ferguson-David Gill era, when the manager and CEO worked in tandem, ManU was viewed with "admiration and respect by their peers." But that respect is "now ebbing away" with Real President Florentino Perez "understood to be exasperated by his dealings with Woodward." Bayern Munich, "while losing the fight" to hold onto Bastian Schweinsteiger, was meanwhile "dismissive" of ManU's attempts to lure Thomas Müller from Bavaria (TELEGRAPH, 9/2).
OWN-GOAL: In London, Andrew Hill reported how Real and ManU failed to complete a "much-heralded, multi-million-pound transfer of goalkeepers will end up as a footnote in sporting history." The "real consolation for wage-slaves is that two of the wealthiest football clubs in the world are capable of fouling up form-filling as badly as mere paper-pushers." De Gea was due to go to the Spanish club, with Madrid's Keylor Navas heading to Manchester. Real, though, "somehow failed to meet a midnight deadline to file the transfer online" with FIFA. The first rumor was that files emailed by ManU "could not be opened." It "seems more likely that everything was left too late." The scenario will be familiar to anyone "who has had to fill in a superficially simple online form under pressure" (FINANCIAL TIMES, 9/2).
