Sunday, June 07, 2009

Mega-buys not the way. Clever buys are to stay.

Yup, the season's over. Now clubs in the Premier League are flexing their muscles in the summer transfer window with the likes of Manchester City and Portsmouth joining Chelsea, Man Utd and Liverpool with the mission to 'buy' trophies.
For me, it's a clear way of cheating when big clubs win all the titles with superior financial advantage. I am still waiting for the day when a small spending club clinches the title - in which will NEVER happen if the Big Clubs with Big Bucks continue financing their transfers with debts.
Maybe the FA should introduce the transfer-solvency mechanism where a club, which is debt-ridden, will have their transfer budget cap even though their assets indicate an ability to fully finance the debts.
It is cheating because the mid-table and poor from the wealthiest clubs table won't be able to fork out 32 million pounds for a world class player, and they will continue to be in mid table, or even relegated, being unable to outclass the big clubs with their home-grown youngsters.
The big four will continue to dominate unless billionaire-owners begin taking over many lowly clubs and challenge for the title.
Referring to Chelsea, it is clear the Club itself is in debt but with the backing of mega-rich Abramovic, he will continue to pump in money when ever which is needed. When he took over Chelsea, his own money was used. Man Utd however, is not the case when the takeover is financed by long term loan but they still continue to buy big like Dimitar Berbatov and potentially Carlos Teves even though their arch-rival City has claimed interest too.
Arsenal with their Emirates Stadium being their new source of gate receipts after leaving Higbury, has always wanted to work prudently. However, they took a gamble in which has paid off by securing a 300million pounds of loan to finance their new home. It has paid dividends thanks to their strict transfer policy and wage structure where only clever or 'boring' signings are made.
They have signed Andriy Arshavin in January for 15 Million pounds during which the sterling pounds was a lot weaker then. With his great start to his Arsenal career, it has proven that he is a worthwhile signing, a clever one if you may.
Chelsea, would have offered 30million pounds for Arshavin if they were keen for him, which I can say here, as silly money. This is a clear difference between both clubs.
The aim for Arsenal, just like other companies, is to make the company works in a going-concern basis and act prudently to stay in a financially sound position. Others, like Chelsea and Man City are being made as the big boys' toys - making Football Manager (the game) a reality, simply to show to the people that they have power and control of whatever they want.
If I were a billionaire myself, I would buy shares in Arsenal. I would take over the Arsenal NOT to show people what I got, but to seriously make Arsenal achieve things while making good decisions on its finance, so that I will stay longest in the Club. I am a fan of Football Manager as well but trust me, I only buy the youngsters and if I had to sell them in the future, I will make sure I make profits out of it.
What the Arsenal board is doing is somewhat in the interest of Arsene Wenger - buy intelligently. There may be some stupid buys like Franny Jeffers and Jose Reyes but at least they were not signed for about 25 million pounds (like Veron) or 30 million pounds (Shevchenko). Jose Reyes had a problem settling in London and as far as I am concerned, his so called 19million pounds signing were only settled in half, as Jose didn't achieve much during his stay at Arsenal. The track record has said it all. World-class players were made at Arsenal where they were virtually nobody before. Dennis Bergkamp was a flop in Inter, Henry was made to play on the left wing in Juventus, Patrick Vieira was a fringe youngster at Milan, Marc Overmars was badly injured when he signed from Ajax, Kanu was a forgotten man at Inter, Petit was a nobody in France and so were Clichy, Sagna, Toure and Adebayor. It's the Arsenal way to buy cheap and develop players to become world class stars.
Honestly, I am not sour about Man Utd's achievements for the past seasons, but if the likes of Everton, Aston Villa and Wigan can challenge for the title with the money they have, that would be better for the game, so that it won't be perceived as 'you can buy the title' game where about 4 billion fans out there cheering for the beauty of it, not ugly money.

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