Is The Power Shifting In Europe?

The English Premier League is riding high as the top football league in the world. Last season saw two Premier League teams playing in the Champions League Final for the first time and the League continues to attract new investors from overseas, while enjoying a massive television contract.

This summer English teams seem more interested in raiding each other instead of looking overseas for players. Manchester United, Liverpool, Sunderland and Portsmouth have all signed or placed offers for players currently playing in England.

The rest of Europe is not sitting back and conceding European glory to English teams again next season. Serie A saw all four of its teams knocked out of the Champions League by English teams last season and Serie A clubs have been especially active in the transfer market.

AC Milan, who must be favorites to win the UEFA Cup next season, grabbed many of the headlines by signing Ronaldinho from Barcelona and Mathieu Flamini from Arsenal even without the promise of Champions League football next year.

Summer transfer rumors have had Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba and Emmanuel Adebayor all linked with moves to Serie A this summer.

A lot of the transfer noise this summer has came from Spain where Barcelona and Real Madrid have been very active in talking about players playing in England. Didier Drogba and Emmanuel Adebayor have been summer long targets for Barcelona while the Ronaldo to Real Madrid saga has generated daily headlines for the last two months.

It is interesting to see the EPL teams being the hunted instead of the one's hunting here. A lot of the top European players seem to turning their back on the EPL this summer and staying where they are. It is too early to tell whether this is a short term change in attitude or something else, but it will make this year’s Champions League one of the most competitive in years.