Will Arsenal and Liverpool Become the Next Top Clubs to Bite the Dust?

The world of football is a curious place. Clubs are forever establishing themselves as the top trump, and most fall off their perch sooner or later.

Just think of the mighty, Europe-conquering Nottingham Forest, who are now fighting for a place in the second tier of English football. Other clubs have had briefer spells near the dominant end of British and European football; think Leeds, Newcastle, Blackburn, etc.

Liverpool no longer have the dominance they had twenty or so years ago; despite recent success in Europe, they have been inconsistent in England. Not helped by severe financial uncertainties, at that.

Arsenal, meanwhile, look unable to compete with the spending power of Man. United and Chelsea, and appear to be slipping off the pace, as top players such as Aleksandr Hleb and Gilberto Silva are replaced with the inexperience of someone such as Samir Nasri or no one at all.

On Sept. 1, Manchester City were taken over by a consortium of multi-billionaires, the likes of which Roman Abramovich will have, and has already had, trouble to compete with. This could herald in a new generation of football, in which big money is essential; times are well and truly changing.

Especially with the new owners declaring their interest in seemingly all of the best players in the world—including David Villa, Cristiano Ronaldo, Fernando Torres and Cesc Fabregas, and the last-minute snatching of Robinho away from Chelsea—they clearly mean business.

So where does this leave two of the most prominent teams of the last couple of decades?

For years, they have been described as two of the "top four" teams. If Man. City overtake them, that leaves either Liverpool or Arsenal out of the Champions League, leading to huge financial deficits. Moreover, with UEFA pushing to reduce The Premiership's Champions' League spots to three, both teams could miss out, if they are not careful, and fall into mediocrity.

Of course, this is football, and probably sooner or later one of these teams will be bought out by an even richer multi-millionaire. In which case, no-one can predict anything that will happen in football, other than fees becoming more inflated and money talking even louder than ever.

The only thing I hope is that the game remains entertaining and doesn't lose the relevance that it might. Oh, and my team to win the quadrouple...obviously.