Top flight calls time on foreign invasion

ENGLISH: Lescott and Barry joined City

By Chris Bascombe, 31/10/2009

THE foreign invasion of the Premier League may be over.

England's top clubs feared the impact of an unattractive euro exchange rate and 50 per cent tax hike during the last transfer window.

According to football finance experts, they were right to be worried. Less is being spent overseas, with more cash being redistributed across our own clubs to enable them to topple the Big Four.

And the most recent spending trends underline why we're in for the most competitive race for a Champions League spot in Prem history.

That's the conclusion of football auditors KPMG, whose study highlighted the full extent of the shift in spending power.

United's £80million sale of Cristiano Ronaldo inevitably left them rock-bottom of the 'net spend' table, with Arsenal second-bottom.

In fact, Chelsea are the only Big Four club in the top half of the table having splashed £18.5m in the summer. However, KPMG say the economic doom and gloom is contributing to the most exciting Premier campaign in memory.

Geoff Mesher, who heads the forensic sports industry team at KPMG, said: "One of the most interesting trends of the last transfer window is that in 2009, two-thirds of the transfer fees spent were transactions between English clubs, like the Gareth Barry deal.

"In 2008, it was a 50 per cent split between money staying in this country and going abroad.

"English clubs now feel they can get as much for their money in this country as they can anywhere else.

"The inevitable conclusion from this is there will be more money within our own game to develop English talent."

Figures published at the end of the transfer window showed £210m was spent by Prem clubs in the summer of 2008 but this fell to £81.5m last year.

Mesher added: "We don't just put that down to a recession. The value of the euro, coupled with the 50 per cent tax rate, has made England a less attractive destination for top players.

"This seems to have impacted on the Big Four more than other clubs because, inevitably, they're only interested in the top players from abroad.

"It's too early to conclude this will be a long-term trend but the spending of the Big Four will be interesting in the next transfer window."

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