Mid table clubs spending top end money – Good or bad for the Premier League?
The imminent signings of Wilfried Bony at Swansea and Victor Wanyama for Southampton have perhaps served to underline how competitive the Premier League is going to be in the upcoming season.
Both players during recent months have been linked to sides at the higher end of the food chain in England.
Bony has been suggested as a target for several clubs at different stages recently, with the strongest speculation indicating that he could be the answer to striking issues at Chelsea and Tottenham.
31 goals in 30 league games will get you noticed regardless of which league you are playing in and his record for Vitesse Arnhem in the Eredivisie certainly brought him to people’s attention.
Why seemingly none of the perceived bigger clubs chose to follow through and make an offer is unclear, there are certainly some edges in his game that require smoothing, but a few weeks ago not many would have given the Welsh club any chance of securing his services.
Similarly with Wanyama, his performances for Celtic particularly in the Champions League and most notably in his goal scoring performance against Barcelona at Celtic Park, heightened an already growing buzz around him.
Manchester United and Arsenal were considered opponents for his signature and his future home definitely appeared as if it would be in the squad of one of the top four.
It seems to have transpired that the battle to buy the Kenyan has been won by the South Coast side but strangely their sole rivals were apparently Cardiff City.
With Southampton and Swansea now set to join West Ham and Norwich in breaking their transfer records this summer, it demonstrates that not only will the battle to stay in the Premier League next season be tougher than ever but also the fight to finish in the top half will be ultra competitive.
This, in theory, should be good for the English game and standards should be raised. But let’s hope that clubs are not seeing the additional TV money as an enticement to live beyond their means and to gamble everything on maintaining their Premier League status.
Allen Whyte
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