Right now the Premier League is suspended due to the ongoing problems in Europe and recently the authorities have made it clear that the games will only resume when they get the green light from the government.
Last week, the Premier League had released a statement which read, via MEN: “We are acutely aware of the distress the spread is causing and our thoughts are with all those directly affected by the pandemic.
“The health and well-being of players, coaches, managers, club staff, and supporters are our priority and the league will only restart when medical guidance allows.
“Today’s shareholders’ meeting provided an opportunity to discuss possible scheduling models. It remains our objective to complete the 2019-20 season but at this stage, all dates are tentative while the impact develops.”
This prolonged shutdown has already started causing problems to the finances of various clubs across England and a number of Premier League clubs have already asked their players to take pay cuts.
And now, talking about the impact on other areas of football, ex-Liverpool & Tottenham transfer chief Damien Comolli has claimed that this problem will affect the upcoming transfer market too since as per his knowledge, there are only a handful of EPL clubs who will have the capacity to spend big at the end of the season.
“An agent was telling me the other day, that there are actually only three clubs in the Premier League will be able to spend money next summer in the transfer window,” Comolli told Sky Sports.
“I don’t know if this is correct but usually when agents tell you things like this, they usually get intel.
“We might see very little transfer activity, we might see swaps, we might see loans and I think we are going to see a massive decrease in transfer fees and transfer activity, at least transfers involving money.
“The longer this crisis goes on, more clubs are going to be in a financially difficult situation. The first thing that will be impacted will be player remuneration, the second thing will be transfer fees.”
Which Premier League clubs will spend big?
Manchester United are said to be one of the clubs who will be willing to spend money in the transfer market despite all the chaos going on right now while Chelsea are also expected to bring in a number of new players since they have not made even a single acquisition in the past two transfer windows.
But talking about Tottenham Hotspur, Comolli has hinted that the North London club might be one of the clubs who struggle to bring in reinforcements during the summer.
He added: “If they are not doing well in the league if the transfer market is difficult for them if they are not qualifying for the Champions League, people should understand that they have to be very, very cautious.
“Remember the whole debate at the time where Arsenal had to pay for the Emirates, for the building of the stadium, and people were criticising why they don’t spend money? They did not have money to spend.
“It was very simple and I think Tottenham are in a situation where they have some money to spend I am sure, or they will have had without the spread, but this issue will create a situation for them because they have got this huge debt.
“It’s healthy debts because have built a stadium and have this incredible asset, but they still have to pay for it.”
Manchester City are owned by a wealthy Middle-Eastern family meaning they too should not have any major issues in signing a handful of new players if Pep Guardiola wishes to make any.
But apart from Tottenham Hotspur, clubs like Liverpool and Arsenal could really struggle with their finances in the summer.
The Anfield outfit had already taken the decision to put their non-essential staff on furlough but they quickly had to backtrack on that decision after facing some major backlash. And while Jurgen Klopp is not expected to make too make new signings in the summer but still the Fenway Sports Group might have reach deep into their pockets if they wish to bring in reinforcements for the coming season.
Newcastle United are about to be taken over by the top Saudi family and the deal is expected to be wrapped up within the next three or four weeks meaning the Magpies could and should match up with the big six in the transfer market during the summer.
