La Liga president Javier Tebas has come out and criticised the Premier League’s massive expenditure on player signings. The 20 English top flight clubs spent a total of £2.2 billion on recruitment. On the other hand, the Spanish league spent a total of £404 million.
To add to the contrasting figures, 13 of the top 20 spenders in Europe this summer are from the Premier League. Barcelona are the only club that is in the top ten, having signed Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, Jules Kounde, Andreas Christensen, Franck Kessie, Marcos Alonso and Hector Bellerin.
And as a result of the overspending of the Premier League clubs, Tebas is ready to report them to UEFA for unsustainable spending and transfer inflation. It should be noted, though, that UEFA is already planning to impose spending restrictions on English clubs to be up to 70% of their revenue.
La Liga president Javier Tebas criticises Premier League for unsustainable spending
“Premier League revenues are 1.8 times more than LaLiga or Bundesliga, but this negative amount is 20 times more than the Spanish league that has very good financial control,” Tebas complained in a public presentation on LaLiga Squad Spending Limits.
“There were €277 million in capital increases in La Liga. €2.3 billion in the Premier League, which are contributions and loans provided. In the Championship, it was €1.3 billion.It would be normal if they signed twice as many players, but they have spent much more than that. This can only be possible if the owners get out their chequebooks, and these are different models.
“I know the Premier League has a model to limit losses to £108 million. Do we want unsustainable models? What happens if the owners stop spending the money? We could let the Sheikhs and big companies come in here to buy out clubs. PSG can get more gas whenever they need to buy more players or use a related business.
“The football industry has changed, and there is much more money. If there is no control, then we could endanger the industry itself.The two competitions that are the most sustainable are La Liga and the Bundesliga, and we have to really fight for sustainability.”
The Premier League generates much more revenue than La Liga, owing to its audience and TV distribution. They also have far richer owners than Spanish clubs. As a result, they can afford to spend more. But owing to the situations that La Liga finds itself in, it follows a far more sustainable and strict financial model that Tebas has ensured all clubs abide by.
