If I had told a Leicester City fan at the beginning of the season that they would be staying in the Premier League at the end of the year, they would have been more than satisfied. After all, but for a historic relegation escape where they accumulated more points in their final nine games than they did in their first 29, Leicester would have found themselves back in the second division of English football only a season after being promoted. At this point last season, they were bottom of the league with 17 points. Currently, Leicester sits five points clear at the top of the Premier League with 53 points.
Such a turnaround is truly astounding considering the lack of parity in English football. Since the 1995-1996 season, just four different clubs, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City have been crowned champions and just nine clubs have finished in the top four. In a league without a salary cap and where players are bought and sold instead of traded, it is no surprise that clubs just trying to balance their books have not been able to compete against teams amassed by Arab royalty and Russian billionaires.
This season, however, the script has changed. Last season’s champion, Chelsea, is currently in the 13th place. Meanwhile, Manchester United, the club crowned champions 13 times in the past 21 years, are six points adrift of the top four. Perennial contenders Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham still remain in striking distance; however each is on pace to finish around 73 points, a total that has never won the Premier League.Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger attributes it to the quality of competition. He’s right, and unsurprisingly it's all about the money.
The current Premier League TV deal is such that each club is awarded a minimum of 54.1 million pounds. This is 60 percent higher than the amount awarded in 2013 and triple what Spain’s La Liga’s bottom team receives. Since the new TV deal was implemented in 2014, 17 current or former Premier League clubs have broken their club record signing fee. While the top clubs are still in a different spending class (Manchester City spent 55 million pounds on Kevin De Bruyne this summer), even the worst premier league clubs are competitive in the international transfer market. The likes of Crystal Palace’s record signing Yohan Cabaye (13 million pounds from Paris Saint Germain), player-of-the-year contender Riyad Mahrez of Leicester City and Stoke City’s Xerdan Shaqiri (formerly of Bayern Munich and Inter Milan), are no longer reserved for the premier league elite.
Next year a new TV deal will kick in. The current three billion pound deal will again see an increase in excess of 60 percent. It is projected that the team who finishes last will receive 99 million pounds, more than Chelsea received last year as champions. While the Premier League title will likely remain more of a dream than a goal for most clubs, it is clear the hierarchy of the Premier League is the weakest it has been in the modern era. For fans of Leicester City and of the other success stories in the Premier League this year, all there is to do is enjoy the ride.
