Are Big Clubs Ruining the Premier League?

The main defence for the arrival of billionaire owners like Roman Abramovich and Sheikh Mansour is that their deep pockets are good for the Premier League. A cursory glance at this summer’s transfer activity underscores that point. With Mario Balotelli, David Silva and Jerome Boateng touching down at the Eastlands, Manchester City have pretty much been alone in bringing the world’s top players to England.

But there’s a flip side to that argument, as highlighted by Craig Bellamy’s recent loan deal to Cardiff City: the big boys are often hoarding and – in some cases – stifling the league’s best talent. Bellamy is good enough to play for any club in the league. Man City realized that – which is why, when they could no longer find a place for him in their own squad, they actively prevented him from joining any of their title rivals. That left Bellamy to pick the next best thing – his hometown side, who are currently in the Championship. Credit to Roberto Mancini for orchestrating a deal that’s in the best possible interests of his club, but in doing so he’s also deprived the league of one of its most exciting players.

Chelsea have been guilty of the same tactic in recent years. In the summer of 2005, for instance, they flashed wads of cash in the direction of a speedy, skilful little winger named Shaun Wright-Phillips, who coincidentally was playing at the Eastlands. At the time, Wright-Phillips was the most talented and promising player in the league not employed by one of the Big Four. Even though they were already chock-full of wingers like Damien Duff and Arjen Robben, Chelsea targeted Wright-Phillips because of fears that he’d be signed by one of their rivals.

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