EPL Season 2007-08 – Your Player Transfer Guide

Shirley Bassey’s song Big Spender couldn’t come truer for all 20 English Premiership League clubs. With the new season starting on 11 August 2007, the transfer outlay of England’s top 20 football clubs has already surpassed the £300m spent last season, already setting a dubious spending record. In fact, football pundits expect his total outlay to surpass the magic £500m mark when the transfer window closes on August 31, 2007, which is more than enough to feed millions of homeless people. Worldwide. In fact, the EPL is by far the most successful and obscenely expensive soccer league in the world.

Get this: With the latest TV deal signed and sealed, worldwide TV rights have nearly doubled to £625m, including highlights, radio, internet and mobile phone contracts – the total amount to be expected to pour into the game in excess of £2.7bn over the next three years. As consumers, we are indirectly funding this amount of money by paying more to watch live TV action.

Oddly enough, barring one exception in 1995 when Blackburn Rovers won the title on the final day, the crown has been worn by only three clubs, with Manchester United dominating followed by Arsenal and Chelsea. It is hard for us to believe that the title will slip out of the clutches of any of these three clubs in the new season that is coming up. But who knows? Perhaps Liverpool, the most successful English club ever with their massive outlay this season, win their first EPL title.

In the latest transfer market, Manchester United have fired the first salvo by spending over £50m to get new players so far. Liverpool, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspurs are catching up after spending over £30m each, surprising Portsmouth, West Ham and Fulham with over £20m each, and Arsenal, Sunderland, Birmingham and Chelsea with little. over £10 million each. With the league so lucrative, it’s easy to understand why even modest clubs are splurging to maximize their chances of staying on their feet for as many seasons as possible. This is evidenced by the transfer deals of new Fulham manager Lawrie Sanchez, who approved deals worth more than £20m, far exceeding the paltry £1m spent four years ago. And this makes Fulham the biggest spenders in West London, surpassing mighty Chelsea.

For people like me without a lot of money, I’ll settle for spending a few bucks on a bet that Shirley Bassey’s Big Spender will top the billboard charts once again next season. Don’t bet against it. Health.