Premier League has been accused by La Liga of cheating after English clubs spent a mouthwatering amount in the just concluded transfer window.
The transfer window shut its doors on the 31st of January, 2023, and the clubs in the Premier League depleted a huge amount of money, especially compared to other top five European Leagues.
Aside being called the best league in the world, the money they’ve spent has far surpassed that of any other league.
Alarms have been raised throughout Europe at those staggering figures, with Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti conceding that La Liga isn’t as popular as the Premier League in international markets.
However, Javier Gomez, the corporate general director of the Spanish league, has made allegations that the English Premier League is manipulating its transfer system. These allegations have the support of Spanish president Javier Tebas.
Gomez was quoted by La Liga president Javier Tebas on Twitter as saying, “We are aware that there is a lot of debate about how La Liga’s fiscal control means Spanish clubs sign less than Premier League clubs.”
“In all honesty, La Liga prefers it when clubs spend money that they have earned themselves. Shareholders are permitted to invest in the club and spend up to a specific percentage more than the club’s revenue supports.”
Gomez in the video alludes to England’s financial domination as of June 2021, but the data for the month of January alone is more than enough to show a marked increase in spending across the country.
The spending of English Premier League clubs is almost three times greater than it was a year ago, with newly promoted Bournemouth coming in second place in the spending statistics behind Chelsea.
The total amount spent by Premier League clubs in 2022–23 was £2.8bn ($3.5bn), far topping the previous record of £1.9bn ($2.3bn) set in 2017–18.
That’s what a new report from Deloitte’s Sports Business Group (via ESPN) found, with Enzo Fernandez’s £106.8m (£131.6m) transfer to Chelsea from Benfica being both the largest and most recent deal of its kind.
A whopping 37% of the total came from Chelsea, which means they spent more money than every team in the Bundesliga, La Liga, Serie A, and Ligue 1 put together.
La Liga’s corporate executive Javier Gomez has urged UEFA to take action in response to England’s obvious transfer market dominance.
Despite limiting contract lengths beginning in 2023–24 as a result of Chelsea’s dealings this season, UEFA has yet to comment on the facility of more severe regulation tracking money spent, even though objections from Spain and others are sure to continue.
