Money talks in football and the richest clubs always win the most trophies. Leicester City are the only non Big 6 club to win the EPL since 1995 and that has to be viewed as a once in a lifetime or fluke event. The Foxes took the title with 81 points a total that would have seen them come up an average of 13 points short in the seven subsequent seasons and City themselves have averaged 30 points fewer in those seven campaigns which ended with relegation in 2022/23. The Big 6, and we can talk about whether that is now a Big 7 or a different "6" another day ,operate on revenue alone that is 3-5 times greater than the rest of the EPL and that is even without additional funding from owners, which makes it almost impossible for anyone else to break into what is effectively a cartel, without super wealthy backing. That might now be Newcastle United, owned by the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia , but until they claimed a top 4 finish this season, only Leicester had managed that single top 4 placing since 2005 and subsequent to that City title win, the Big 6 have filled the first six places in the EPL on four occasions. 

 

It is not just in the EPL that money dictates matters, in Germany,  Bayern Munich have just won a record breaking 11th title, in France, Paris St Germain their 9th in 11 seasons and in La Liga, Real Madrid or Barcelona have won 17 of the last 19 titles. Those four have budgets and revenue streams which dwarf those of their rivals and only Bayern, one of the Spanish giants or an EPL team have won the Champions League since 2011-12.

 

Having said all that, you cannot simply throw money at a team/project , Chelsea have spent an absolutely crazy £550-600m in the last two transfer windows since Todd Boehly and his consortium took charge, seemingly buying any player with a pulse, as long as they were expensive! That appeared to be the only criteria!  It ended in a 12th place finish, their lowest since 1993-94 and only their second non top 6 placing since 1996-97. They finished 15 points below Brentford, the team with the smallest budget in the EPL. You do have to spend and invest in your squad if you want to stay ahead of the pack, but it is no good doing so without a game plan and Chelsea signed a group of individuals and not a team and only three of those additions made the starting 11 for their final game of the season.

 

It is a fine line for the rest, the other 13-14 top flight teams, it is easy to go from challenging for "best of the rest" to a relegation battle, ask Leicester City, West Ham United and Everton . You can spend too much trying to bridge the gap, or just to survive and then, despite the EPL broadcasting riches, when things do not work out, find yourself in financial trouble. This has happened to City and I outlined their troubles and lack of new investment coming into the campaign just ended. The funds had dried up and more than that, a whole host of senior players were allowed to enter the final year of their contract without being sold or signing extensions . I speak often about Brighton and Brentford leading the way in innovation , recruitment and how clubs should be run and City would have been spoken of in similar terms half a dozen years ago, with recruitment under Steve Walsh that was the envy of all, signing Drinkwater, Vardy, Mahrez and Kante for a song. It was easy to see why City were fearful of spending last season, their 21/22 accounts showed, according to the Swiss Ramble blog, an operating loss of £83m and of the three relegated clubs this season, the highest wage bill of £182m, the highest wages to turnover ratio of 85%, the highest debt of £346m and most interest payable of £19m. With 7-8 players out of contract that wage bill will lessen, but they have lost some assets from the balance sheet and several others are about to enter their final year and if sold, as surely one or two must, it will be at greatly reduced fees compared to what they would have commanded a year ago and they are in a bit of a mess, much of which could and should have been avoided with one or two brave but obvious decisions, he said with hindsight! 

 

It will be just as hard to break into the top 6-7 next season, Brighton and Villa will doubtless fancy their chances after doing so this season, but in reality you are only really playing for those two spots at best and both the Seagulls and Villans have finished bottom five recently and surely know that nothing is guaranteed. Brighton owner Tony Bloom is too smart to fall for that and is likely to continue to invest as his club always have, even with a fortune likely to be incoming after sales of some much admired talent again this summer. Those two, along with ambitious clubs like Brentford and Fulham will be hoping to kick on from great campaigns, but the truth is that 13-14 clubs are effectively in a relegation battle each season until it begins, no one is too big to not be dragged into it and first priority has to be survival. You have to spend , but wisely and no point throwing a king's ransom at effectively two spots, when it can come with shrewd investment and when, in reality, the other ten places (above the drop zone) have almost as much value. Progress has to happen over time and organically, it cannot be forced, unless you have a sugar daddy or mummy or nation state and even then , it can end in tears!

 

Good luck!