With the Swans soaring ever higher, can a club which operates responsibly ever hope to compete with the country's elite?
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| Can we ever hope to compete on an even footing with clubs like Manchester United, Chelsea & Arsenal? |
With Swansea City about to embark on their maiden Europa League campaign (previous forays into other formats of European competition excluded) I've been wondering just how far it's possible for a club like the Swans to go.
For years, Arsenal have been regarded as the preeminent exponents of good football in the UK, and while there are numerous similarities between how the two teams play the game the more telling comparison is in evidence off the field. Famed for their fiscal prudence, Arsenal have developed a reputation for penny-pinching and, with cash reserves in excess of £100million, they are easily the most solvent club in the UK - if by solvent you apply the "pay your own way" criteria. It's when you remove that stipulation, however, that things become interesting, and perhaps a little worrying.
Arsenal built their reputation as a passing team at a time when mega-rich "Sugar Daddy's" were, with all due respect, a little less mega-rich, and since the arrival of Abramovich et al they've found the going a lot tougher. Their last trophy came in 2005 (an FA Cup) while their last league title came the year prior to that, and despite the solid footing the club have built for themselves their reluctance to spend in the transfer market does seem to finally be trying the patience of even their most loyal fans. Those that remain anyway - I've spoken to numerous Arsenal fans who've become disillusioned with how their club have evolved, but this is likely more to do with football in general and to single the Gunners out for that reason would be harsh. There's a prawn sandwich brigade at most clubs, and Arsenal are surely no worse than Manchester United or Chelsea in that regard.
How does this affect the Swans? Not directly, granted, however it got me thinking about whether, with the Swans emphasis also on financial prudence, we could ever hope to break into British football's elite - if (and I know that's a big if) results on the field did ever propel us into the upper reaches of the Premiership. I'm not really on about challenging for the title here; given our recent history that would be rather preposterous, it's more about whether a club that prides itself on (and gears towards) running at a profit will ever be able to compete with clubs who have owners with deep pockets.
A look to the continent would seem to suggest so; German football has been held up as an example to follow, and seems set to do well from incoming Financial Fair Play rules, but how does it work over there? Their regulations forbid any owner from holding more than a 49% stake in the club, so in the most successful example of this model (Bayern Munich) they have numerous partners who own smaller stakes in the club,
and make a massive amount of money from their merchandising deals (such as stadium naming rights, kit sponsorship etc). An interesting article on finance in German football points out that the sponsorship deals Bayern have in place make up over half of their revenue stream; while that may be viable for a club like Arsenal it's unlikely the Swans will ever be able to swing that kind of deal, given their recent arrival at the big boy's table.
All of this is redundant, however, if you fail to make signings which will, at the very least, maintain the level of the squad. For Arsenal, the succession of top players who've walked out the door must be worrying, as without silverware soon they are in danger of falling away from European's elite, however last season their performances were often a lot better than they were given credit for. A particularly solid defensive footing will have pleased Wenger no end, but their profligacy in the transfer market seems set to bite them in their derrieres once again, with no real signings coming in and transfer deadline day starting to appear on the horizon.
Swansea, on the other hand, have come out all guns blazing. They'd clearly been working on some deals since January, and Jose Canas was the first to put pen to paper on a contract with the Swans, before Alejandro Pozuelo, Jonjo Shelvey, Jordi Amat, Wilfried Bony and Jernade Meade all joined the procession of talented footballers making their way to South Wales. Youngsters Alex Gogic and Gregor Zabret also penned deals with the club, although they (along with Meade) are likely to spend the majority of the season with the development squad.
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| Club record signing Wilfried Bony |
The acquisition of Bony, though, is the one which should strike a chord with Arsenal fans. The Swans spending £12million is surely the equivalent of Arsenal spending around £30million, given the relative standings of the clubs (and Arsenal's cash reserves) in terms of the gamble you're taking that the move will come off. It really is a massive, massive figure for a club who are only a decade departed from the lowest professional league in the country, but more importantly a club who always, always put fiscal security above anything else.
I still firmly believe if we spent £12million it was there to spend, and I'm not worried that we've spent around £20million in the transfer market. Given Danny Graham's sale to Sunderland (we did well there, didn't we?), and the leftover kitty from Joe Allen, Scott Sinclair & Brendan Rodgers' transfers there must have been a sizable transfer fund available, but the important thing is the ambition it shows. Laudrup has said numerous times that standing still isn't acceptable, and that he wants to move forward as a club - the signings we've made so far indicate we're going to do just that. The question is...how far we can go?