Ceks

Devilish:

Granted; there is more money in the EPL than other leagues. This is due to foreign investment from the likes of Abramovich, Lerner, Glazer, etc the list goes on..If you inject money into one league, clubs will obviously get richer. It comes as no suprise that 4 English teams reached the CL semi final. I actually admire teams in the Italian league, who choose not to sell the club.

Let me get this straight. You are saying that all clubs, other than those in the EPL(bar a few exceptions) are getting poorer?
You have listed Lazio, Roma, and AC Milan. These are all Italian teams, and do not support your sweeping statement that all "there is no money in football". Milan, Inter, Roma and Juventus all earn over 60% of their income through TV contracts alone. Each side takes home less than 15% on a matchday and no more than 30 %commercially.

Italy’s top clubs are too dependent on television money which is unpredictable. Every team in Serie A is obliged to negotiate its television rights individually. This has, in the past, led to the season starting late, like in 2002-03 and 2003-04. From 2010-11 this will no longer be the case as the Italian government introduces collective bargaining, which will seriously dent Milan, Inter, Roma and Juventus’ ability to make as much money from television - one of the reasons Premiership clubs are so rich is because each receive a relatively equal share of the pie in return for unprecedented visibility. All 20 Premiership sides receive more coverage in more countries than any other in the world.

Milan need to exploit their brand as well as Man Utd do. Why are Arsenal head and shoulders above Inter, Juve and Roma? Because their stadium is not owned by the council but the Gunners themselves! If only Italian clubs owned and invested in their stadia we would see more bums on seats and less violence. Arsenal have seen a 111 per cent increase in their matchday revenue since moving from Highbury and selling the naming right of Ashburton Grove.

My point is, money isn't just dissapearing from football, like you seem to think it is. Everone is in agreement that the Italian league needs an upgrade. This will require investment to clubs like Roma who are crippled with debt. But foreigners know that if you buy an Italian club you will also have to deal with the Italian government. In England the culture of a free market is much more embraced and government stays away from business.

Listing a few clubs, does little to support your argument. All clubs rise and fall. Any club can be run badly, and many Italian clubs have been.
Just look at Leeds as an example of a club being run badly.

How much did they each cost? Is this even relevant? The world has changed a lot since then.

Where has the money evapourated to? If you take Real Madrid as an example, the world’s richest club. It receives 23% of its income from gate receipts and corporate hospitality etc, 39%f rom commercial outlets such as shirt sales and other merchandising and 38% from Television. The money hasn't just dissapeared. More money is being made from all of the above than ever before when regarding most clubs. But like you said, people like Beckham are special cases so Real have probably lost in terms of merchandising this year.

This has been the case for years, nothing has changed.

You have actually proved nothing. As it is theoretical, and nobody can tell whether Real would have chosen Messi over Zidane if the prices were the same. But once again, you have missed my point. Ill say it one last time: Players like Messi, Benzema and Rooney are special cases, and are very rare. Its very unusual for such a young player to command such a high transfer fee. Which makes your point about Messi and Zidane completely redundant.

I don't understand the relevance of bringing Ronaldinho into this debate. Are you under the impression that he was a great star, with massive marketability before he joined Barcelona? Or are you suggesting he will retain a high transfer fee, because of his marketability? I thought I read somewhere that Milan have refused to pay over £10m., and I doubt many other teams will be prepared to take a risk on another washed up brazilian super star, just because they can sell more shirts.