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Richest league becoming predictable contest
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-01-06 10:15
ESSIEN TARGET
The new strongman in English football, midfielder Michael Essien, was a
reported target for United and Arsenal before his $47 million move to Stamford
Bridge in the close season.
Chelsea's England winger Shaun Wright-Phillips had long been tipped to join
Arsenal.
The public admiration of their manager Arsene Wenger and the brilliant
Highbury career of his adoptive father Ian Wright were no match, though, for the
$37 million transfer fee Chelsea paid Manchester City for his services.
Yet he has still to play a match for 90 minutes under Mourinho, or score a
goal. At this stage of last season, he had played every minute of every City
game and scored eight times.
The Premier League is, of course, no stranger to big money.
Its creation in 1992-93 and subsequent growth fuelled by vast satellite
television receipts has turned it into a $2.4 billion business according to
experts Deloitte -- and the world's biggest league by far.
Broadcast to some 600 million homes in 195 countries, the Premier League can
lay claim to the kind of following usually reserved for the world's major
religions.
Yet even by these standards, Chelsea are in a different league to the other
19 clubs.
Aside from the money being lavished on the playing and coaching staff,
Chelsea have also begun work on a state-of-the-art training complex in the
wealthy commuter belt of Cobham, south of London.
FINANCIAL MICROSCOPE
Abramovich's investment has also come at a time when the finances of
Chelsea's rivals have come under the microscope.
The Glazer family took out nearly a billion dollars worth of loans in May to
buy Manchester United, nearly half of the money being secured against the assets
of the club.
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