Will Money Run The Rule?

Another off-season has come and nearly gone and we find ourselves with a similar scenario that affects every football fan... who are the movers and shakers.

We have had a few surprises. None more so then Manchester Utd's free signing of Michael Owen. Few can argue that Owen is a striker of world class pedigree and, as this has been said everywhere, this is either a shrewd piece of business, or a huge risk.

However, on the other side of the coin, we have one of the, if not the most expensive transfer windows, and it still isn't over yet. We have seen the world record transfer fee broken twice in the space of a couple of weeks and the mega money fees are coming thick and fast.

The question is, will the money talk its way to the trophy cabinet immediately or will it be the teams who didn't spend as much laughing at the end of the 2010 season.

The transfer window has been dominated by Real Madrid in their quest to reclaim the League. By signing Ronaldo for £80 million and Kaka for £56 million they have shattered any collective spending record, totalling over £150m and continuing since the arrival of Karim Benzema for £30m and other players totalling another £20m.

Real aren't the only team with a big wad of cash burning holes in their pockets. Manchester City are throwing caution to the wind in order to qualify for the Champions League and get one over on their neighbours. So far they have spent an estimated £70m on three strikers adding to the £32m Robinho and £14m Craig Bellamy who only arrived last season, the latter arriving in January. As well as this, there was the infamous £100m plus bid for Kaka in January.

After their spending last season on players like Robinho, Bellamy, De Jong and Kompany etc, it is ironic to see that the season before where they didnt spend as much, they finished with a European spot, whereas last season their charge fell flat.

If the money is there, then by all means spend it. But there is always a downside. Too many signings will unsettle a team, it only takes one player to make a noise to hinder a teams progress.

Sometimes the marquee signings deliver, ie Zizu and Figo, or sometimes they won't. Some recent examples include Andrei Shevchenko, a £30m flop in the Premiership after becoming a legendary force in Serie A, and Juan Veron who was below par for both Man Utd and Chelsea.

The coming season will be an eye opener. If money leads to success, this will lead to an more money changing hands, and not necessarily from the teams with the bigger reputations. Since their takeover, Man City have spent a lot, and if that leads to results it wouldn't be a massive surprise if others followed suit, especially with the amount of money coming in from TV revenues and sponsorships that clubs are now recieving.