The Premier League has become so financially dominant off the back of its television rights that many fans fear it will leave the rest of Europe in the dust.
But could it really become the de facto Super League all on its own, the rest of Europe’s elite be damned? That might not be so easy.
The New Republic’s Alex Shephard made a version of this argument on BlueSky:
Admittedly, English clubs outside their top few do threaten to dominate the competition. The sheer number of entries into the Champions League and Europa League, Aston Villa’s Europa League crown, even Brentford’s 7-0 preseason thrashing of Bundesliga top-six hopefuls Eintracht Frankfurt…all are feathers in the cap for ‘very rich’.
But from a Bayern Munich perspective, the title of Europe’s best is as much up for grabs as it ever was. Paris Saint-Germain won it all last year, narrowly edging out Bayern on the way. The two clubs, along with Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, figure to continue to be fixtures in or around the European top five — no matter how full of Premier League mid-table clubs the rest of the top 30 or so gets.
Moreover, the competitive dynamics of the Premier League shapes English football. Their players, as we saw in England’s World Cup exit, where Thomas Tuchel’s men could not hold on to a lead against Argentina despite apparently trying not to back off and let Messi & co. take the game to them. But also their teams, built to trash and buckle against the Premier League meta, suited over the years more for brutal slugfests — and lately, corner kick scrums — than expansive, free-flowing technical play.
The best teams are the best teams; Bayern is not about to get overtaken by the likes of a mid-table Premier League side. And the EPL elite, whether it is high-flying Arsenal, constantly churning Chelsea or suddenly adrift Liverpool or Manchester City…they are getting worn down by the grueling nature of their own domestic campaign, as well as the demands of building a team to maximize points taken from the 20-team field of the English top flight.
This all has a secondary effect on the transfer market, too. While English teams have Premier League money to throw around, the top teams in France, Germany, and Spain — okay, we might be talking about four or five teams total here — can offer a consistent shot at Champions League glory that few English teams can lay claim to.
Florian Wirtz signed on to Liverpool after a title-winning season; the Reds barely scraped by to land in this year’s UCL and will have to fight to get into next year’s. Clubs like Chelsea and Tottenham have been in various states of disarray for years; Manchester City’s post-Pep Guardiola slide looks in the beginning stages. And before the Gunners were kings was a long, dark winter for Arsenal.
Even in the wildest times at Bayern the recruiting pitch was still relatively straightforward: come here to the Bundesliga’s best team, win domestic trophies and be a threat in the Champions League. As a bonus, the well-resourced club will have the funds to field a star-studded cast around you. That’s how the Bavarians scored Harry Kane and why, Premier League TV money or no, they will still be in the conversation as one of Europe’s top clubs for years to come.
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