As children we are told that money does not bring happiness, but we are encouraged to associate it as a synonym of success in life. As if this were not a remedy for all ills but an alternative.
Even if we resign ourselves to the fact that our sport is extraordinarily long-lived and traditional, the harsh reality is that it is surprisingly modern and, consequently, materialistic and ungrateful. While the players fight for the ball, money is the puppet master who decides the end of the story.
While Mr. Javier Tebas insists on defining the Spanish competition as the best in the world, exposing the seams of this excellent tournament, other leagues cling to prove it by extolling its most favorable and differentiating elements.
The English competition has managed to forge its reconquest over the other domestic leagues by raising its level of play and tactical variability (details that coaches such as Jurgen Klopp, Marcelo Bielsa or Pep Guardiola have had a notable influence on). These improvements, combined with the high physical component already present in the competition, have made it the center of attention.
Just as I, a simple guy in the street, appreciate these details, sponsors and broadcasters have been able to value it fairly. So, as demonstrated last season by the spending power of newly-promoted Leeds, this summer the island’s big guns are dipping their toes into an interesting market while their foreign competitors are only vaguely emerging.
Foot Renegades 