#premier-league-finances

#premier-league-finances

The question of how to bridge the financial gap to other top leagues, most notably the English Premier League, is a very pressing issue for football in Germany. The Deutsche Fußball Liga, or DFL for short, constantly discuss many options and consider what measures they can reasonably take to boost their funding. Eliminating the 50+1 rule is the easiest path to greater investment, but it comes with a loss of identity for German football that is deemed simply unacceptable.

Really good. Txiki [Bergiristain] before and Hugo now. I am a little bit sad and upset because in net spend the last five years we are seventh in the Premier League. I want to be the first, I don't understand why the club don't spend more money. I am a little bit grumpy with them. But like we won in the past because we spent a lot.

The market for players as young as 14 has turned wild, according to industry figures. Some wages are astronomical, one agent says. A sporting director at a top-flight club struggling to keep their best youngsters away from the richest teams in England says: It's a nightmare. We have to offer 14-year-olds scholarship contracts just to protect ourselves. It is a ruthless business.