Even without the big deal of Caicedo, the Premier League winter window investment will set a new historical record. The continent has been wary of the European Premier League for the past year, but now the Premier League is one dimension above the capital strength of the four major European leagues, which has made the Premier League at least in terms of purchasing power in the winter window, becoming a de facto "European Super League".
In the 2022/23 European window, the Premier League's investment lead in the continent's four major leagues is far ahead of all previous seasons. The winter window is not yet closed, with Premier League investment exceeding €540 million, and there will be a wave of signings in front of the window. If Arsenal can press the whistle to sign Caicedo, Premier League winter window investment will exceed the €600 million mark for the first time. Even without the 70 million+ deal of Caicedo, the Premier League winter window investment will set a new historical record.
The previous Premier League winter window investment record was the 2017/18 season (561 million euros), with Van Dijk, Laporte, Aubameyang, Mkhitaryan and Alexis Sanchez all worth more than 30 million euros. But in fact, Mkhitaryan and Alexis Sanchez are in exchange for players, but the book has inflated the 68 million euros in the signings. In terms of actual investment introduction, it has fallen behind this winter window. Although Chelsea dominated the Premier League winter window, even excluding Chelsea, the current investment in the Premier League winter window has reached 364 million euros, also second only to the 2017/18 winter window, which shows the strong purchasing power.
The continent has been wary of the huge threat of the European Premier League for the past year, but now the Premier League is one dimension above the capital strength of the four major European leagues, which has made the Premier League a de facto "European Super League" at least in terms of purchasing power in the winter window. Compared with the summer market, the lead of the four major European leagues has developed from quantitative change to qualitative change, and has become a dimensionality reduction blow in capital.
[Broadcast fee dividend "buyout" winter window]
Unlike the four major European leagues that traditionally rely on giants to contribute winter window investment, Premier League clubs hold hundreds of millions of euros in broadcast fee dividends, and winter window investment has occupied an absolute advantage. Thirteen of the 20 Premier League clubs have invested more than €10 million in the winter window, not counting the €10 million signing of Turin midfielder Lukic's Fulham and €40 million for Polo's Tottenham. In addition, Wolves are ready to sign Flamengo midfielder Joo Gomez for 17.5 million euros, Bournemouth are still fighting for 30 million euros to sign Zaniolo, and Arsenal are ready to try to sign Caicedo for at least 70 million euros...
Even excluding Chelsea, the remaining 19 Premier League clubs have signed as many as 15 players worth more than €10 million in the winter window, 14 more than the four major European leagues combined! And it is very widely distributed, and these tens of millions of new signings belong to 12 clubs. Above 40 million euros are Newcastle United's Gordon, Liverpool's Gakpo, in addition to Arsenal's Trossard and Kiviol, Bournemouth's Utara, Leeds United's Root, Nottingham Forest's Danilo all exceeded 20 million euros. Moreover, this is not counting Chelsea's three major deals of more than 30 million euros, and 11 million euros on loan Felix with a market value of 50 million.
The total broadcast fee of the overall broadcast fee far exceeds that of the Premier League of the four major European leagues, and the group effect reflected in the purchasing power of the winter window is incomparable with the four major European leagues. Any single deal such as Gakpo or Gordon alone is more than the investment in the entire Serie A, La Liga and Ligue 1 winter window except the Bundesliga. Modric is just the pinnacle of the Premier League's purchasing power, and the most frightening thing about the Premier League is that each club can come up with tens of millions of euros in the winter window. Southampton, Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest invested more than 20 million euros, Bournemouth, Leeds United and Wolves more than 30 million euros, these middle and lower reaches of the club investment is ahead of any club in the four major European leagues.
Adding to the despair of Europe's four major leagues, the winter window is not over yet, and the last-minute sprint investment of Premier League clubs is even more amazing. Zaniolo, Polo, Caicedo and even Enzo could all complete the deal before the winter window rings, sending the Premier League's investment of 600 million euros in a single winter window, which is also a height that the four major European leagues can never reach. The Premier League was affected by the new crown epidemic in the winter window of 2021, and the winter window investment was overtaken by Serie A, but when the league environment recovered, the Premier League's broadcast revenue advantage has completely left the four major European leagues behind.
[Overwhelming advantage, inevitable in accident]
The overwhelming advantage of the Premier League in this year's winter window is both the inevitability of the entire league relying on the lead of excessive broadcast revenue, and the chance that the four major league giants have different factors in the winter window. After all, Serie A has been the Premier League's biggest rival in the last 12 winter windows, and there have even been 2 winter windows that have overwhelmed the Premier League. La Liga invested the highest amount of money to date in the four major European leagues in the 2017/18 winter window (288.7 million), and in the four winter windows before the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, the four major European leagues invested more than 100 million in 10 single leagues, which is the normal state.
But this competitive normality, with the new crown epidemic hit hard and the Premier League broadcast fee soaring, completed the inflection point of scissors difference in this winter window. In the next 3 years of the cycle of broadcast fees, La Liga, Serie A and Bundesliga will only receive the same amount as before, and Ligue 1 has dropped significantly, and the gap with the Premier League is immediately highlighted. In the summer window last year, the Premier League invested only 84.87 million less than the four major European leagues combined, equivalent to 96.36%. But in fact, the gap between the dimensionality reduction blow has already appeared: the net investment of the Premier League in the summer window reached 1.35 billion euros, and the four major European leagues Serie A, Ligue 1 and Bundesliga are all net profits from sellers who earn more than buyers invest, and only La Liga has a net investment of more than 60 million, less than 1/20 of the Premier League.
The Premier League's overwhelming investment in the four major European leagues is even more prominent, with a total investment of almost four times that of the four major European leagues and twice the investment of all other European leagues combined. Even taking into account the rest of the world's continents such as South America, Central and North America, Asia and Africa, the Premier League has invested almost twice as much in the winter window. This means that this winter window Premier League is the largest, accounting for 2/3 of the global winter window investment, which has long exceeded half of the country. This is an unprecedented "achievement" that none of the five major European leagues has done before, even at the peak of the Chinese Super League money-burning era (2017 winter window), although it surpasses the five major leagues, it does not have such a big advantage. What's more, the winter window is not the main investment window for Europe's top five leagues.
Chestsea's American boss Boly has been buzzing across Europe about such a bold investment, but Bolly has only escalated the Premier League's investment race. With the influx of Saudi Arabia, Qatari royal family, North American investment funds, Manchester United and Liverpool will change hands or increase capital in the future, and the Premier League has the same advantage as this winter window in terms of capital, and I am afraid that it will continue to appear in the future. Real Madrid, Barcelona and Paris may still have some ability to compete with the Premier League, but they have lost their previous balance against the giants. European football is no longer a confrontation between the giants, but a confrontation between the entire continent and the Premier League.
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