Long story short is last paragraph.
They're the 6 as in the big 6 financially also, albeit Spurs don't spend big but they're there and always have been even before the stadium. The sad reality is that football has grown so much globally, it's not just about the domestic side any more as global interest in a club can means far larger revenues. Unless the rules are changed, there's no way that Villa or the Mags will be able to finance themselves in a way that allows them to compete season after season. Any non big 6 team has their best players picked off by either one of the big 6 or they go to one of the big clubs in a European League.
That means teams need to replace their best players and the mags lost Isak last season but didn't replace him. Man City aren't gonna lose Haaland after a couple of seasons for example or even going back to Spurs as they didn't have to sell Kane after 3 seasons to finance more players. For the also rans, it only takes buying a few duds one season for it all to go to shit and that's exactly what has happened to the mags this season. If players exceed the level then they are picked off by the 'big' teams as they have the finances to buy the players. If Morgan Rogers leaves Villa for example then he's a massive hole to fill and they nearly lost another big player in Martinez last summer (Marco Bizot....Marco Bizot....Marco Bizot).
The simple fact is that Villa, mags, us and all the rest as just stepping stone clubs for the level of players required for sustained success. We could lose some key players come summer and if we don't replace them with similar level of player then it will possibly cost us in performance and results. This isn't something new, it's been happening quite a while now as a club can be a 'conveyor club' such as Southampton when they were flying high finishing 6th 10 years ago, they had their players picked off and eventually faded away.
It was then Leicester, who again got a taste of footy at the top but then eventually lost Kante, Mahrez, Maguire etc to bigger clubs. If they'd been able to keep those players then aye maybe the likes of Leicester etc could have broken into the top but they had to sell to reinvest and be able to pay the high wages. The likes of Brighton also went through a spell losing Ben White, Cucurella, Caicedo etc peaking 6th just a few years ago and if they'd been able to keep those players maybe they could have pushed on. Brentford and Bournemouth have also had decent season but lost players as it's the same shit, different teams and Villa, the mags and us are no different.
Whereas more often than not, one of the big 6 sell a player is usually because they're a failure, not because another big teams wants them. They can afford to buy duds and you only have to look at Spurs for that in who they've bought since Kane and Son's goals disappeared from the team as financially they're OK, even if they go down as their wage bill isn't elite level. Spurs wage bill isn't as high as some may think and hasn't been for many years. It's why they're nowhere near the SCR limit. You can see the mags & Villa are around Spurs but those 2 are near their SCR limits so ha. For context, Leicester hit over £200m in wages 5 seasons ago.
The big 6 look like they've got big wage bills above but Chelsea aside due to their constant season after season buying flops catching up to them, they're not as high as the rest of the league. They could have a fire sale and reset but even so they will eventually recover as they'll buy a striker that will get them the goals and move Pedro and Delap on for a loss. Look at the teams in red on the right and you can see the teams in Europe are struggling to hit that 70% as they don't have the revenue to cover the wages.
Checking the money league 2025, you can see the commercial as this is what I meant about the global pull of the big 6 compared to the mags. It's all the eyes around the world on those 6 teams that demand big money from sponsors/ads etc along with merchandise and all other revenue streams etc. Football has grown massively globally since the Man City takeover, especially on social media in recent times. It's part of the reason why the PL International TV rights are now worth more than the Domestic.
Bear in mind that some of the €90m commercial for the mags is inflated due to Saudis self sponsoring which is more than they'd get from a 3rd party and nowhere near the lowest of the big 6 pull in, which was Arsenal with €250m. The mags will never get any growth required because they won that League Cup. They'd have to be winning the PL or CL a lot more consistently or being contenders season upon season for many seasons to even build up a global 'fan' base that will follow them the huge finances when they don't win anything. I
That's also ignoring the issue of location for the mags which means higher wages given there's not as much concentrated wealth up here (footballers/actors/musicians/millionaires etc) to mingle with, or the same amount of places that cater for that kind of wealth.
Long story short, it's good to see we've got sensible owners will to sell players without chasing the impossible dream and we also have a far more level headed fan base. Whereas, since the Keegan/Hall era, the mags have delusions of grandeur thinking they should have a seat at the table and recently since their takeover, along with Sky etc blowing smoke up their arses along the way. Whereas the reality is that financially they are nowhere near and never will be as they certainly ain't gonna be another Man City, neither will Villa or any other club. The mags won't even be part of the elite even if they build their shiny new stadium as having a big stadium doesn't win things, just ask Spurs and they need to win things to grow as global brand but sustain it for many seasons unlike what they're doing now. As some have said, it's a closed shop at the top of the PL and any team trying to get a place at the table may get some scraps in a doggy bag but they'll never get a full plate to munch on. If they try too hard and it all goes wrong then see Leicester as to what could happen. Hopefully we just plod along, accepting we sell key players occasionally but manage to replace them and in the mean time we enjoy the odd decent season pushing for Europe and stay away from relegation.
must be in with a shout.
