As the summer winds down so does the shopping spree for clubs like Manchester City and Real Madrid. Team director for Real Madrid, Jorge Valdano, stated that the club had shifted their focus to trimming the squad rather than adding to it after Liverpool and Real Madrid came to terms for midfielder Xabi Alonso for an estimated $43 million dollars. This concluded an eight player $323.9 million dollar supermarket sweep. This is the price they are willing to pay to ensure that Barcelona does not duplicate the historic treble of the Champions League, La Liga, and the Spanish Cup.
Manchester City owner, Abu Dhabi, has been anything but conservative despite the warning of UEFA general secretary, David Taylor. The English club acquired distinguished stars like Carlos Tevez, Roque Santa Cruz, and Emmanuel Adebayor disregarding the effect it has on the general marketplace. Taylor told press in England that the club’s actions are destabilizing for the market and will effectively raise player costs. There is a great deal of discomfort for many of the Premiere League clubs that are debt ridden and face financial ruin if they attempt to match the spending power of Manchester City. Portsmouth and several other clubs have found themselves in a financial limbo. Leeds United was relegated from the Premiere League after poor results and financial problems in 2004, proving that even a mighty club can be descended.
Portsmouth, a fellow English club, is currently fighting just to keep its head above water. In order to meet their loan obligations the club has been forced to sell high-profile players like Jermain Defoe, Lassana Diarra, Glen Johnson, and most recently Peter Crouch. The financial woes will remain until Portsmouth is purchased by an owner dedicated to strengthening the team. Portsmouth anticipates Sulaiman al-Fahim, from the United Arab Emirates, was still committed to purchasing the club. Although the team won the FA Cup in 2007-2008, it still posted a loss of $24.5 million dollars that year. It has become imminent that clubs conserve to prevent financial struggle and also seemly more expensive to compete demanding that management make tough decisions.