Following a busy start to the summer, which saw Chile
outlast Argentina to retain their Copa America crown and Portugal shock the
world and hosts France to claim their first European Championship, we can now once
again turn our attention back to club football as the 2016/2017 season of the Barclay’s
Premier League officially gets underway this weekend when Leicester City and Manchester
United meet at Wembley Stadium in the 94th edition of the Football
Association’s Community Shield, the annual kick off to the new campaign that
features the previous seasons Premier League and FA Cup champions.
Leicester City, the small market club whose magical run to
the Premier League title last season captured the hearts of sports fans across
the globe, have taken all three points from Manchester United only once in
their last fifteen meetings (D3 L11) and are likely to find themselves a mere foot
note as we build towards kick off on Sunday, with the legendary Jose Mourinho
set to take charge of his first competitive match since his dismissal from
Chelsea less than a year ago and his first as the head man in charge since he
was brought in to replace Louis van Gaal following the conclusion of last
season.
The appointment of Mourinho, who has succeeded at every stop
he has made throughout his often times stormy managerial career, was just one
of this summer’s biggest headlines, so let’s get you caught up on what else you
may have missed since the Foxes lifted their first Premier League trophy back
in May. We will be back next week with
the first installment of our weekly Matchday previews and then again early next
month following the close of the transfer window for a closer look at the league’s
top sides and who just may be sitting top of the table following the conclusion
of Matchday 38 in May.
The Rich Get Richer
Already the wealthiest soccer league in the world, the
Premier League just got a little (or a lot) richer with the announcement this
past spring of the second most lucrative television contract in all of sports,
just behind the National Football League (NFL).
The deal, which will generate a combined $13 billion through the sale of
both domestic and overseas television rights, will run until the end of the
2018/19 season and will see the profits distributed among all twenty Premier
League clubs, making England’s leading clubs even wealthier and changing the
landscape of the game across the European continent.
Bigger transfer fees, better players, and higher wages
across the board will continue to draw the best talent the world has to offer,
leading to a parity and competitiveness from top to bottom that we have never
seen before in any professional sports league anywhere in the worl. NBC, who has broadcast Premier League games
here in the United States since winning the initial bid back in 2013, and who
saw one out every eleven people in the States catch a game last year, paid
their part and shelled out a cool $1 billion to hold on to the exclusive broadcast
rights of all 380 games a year through the 2022 season.
Turnover at the Top
And who will be charged with spending the influx of
television cash that is now available? Managers
across the Premier League are itching to spend the money that is now burning a
hole in their pockets, as they look to follow the blueprint that Leicester City
laid last season and turn the also-rans into potential title contenders. Half of the league’s twenty teams will be
starting the season with someone new calling the shots, as eight teams brought
in someone new to run the show while another two will be getting their first
full season in charge after taking over midway through last season.
Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola will renew their personal
rivalry that blossomed while both men were in charge at Real Madrid and
Barcelona, with the Spaniard now in charge at crosstown rivals Manchester
City. Antonio Conte will look to
reinvigorate a Chelsea side who were dismal last season while Claude Puel takes
over at Southampton for the departed Ronald Koeman, who filled the vacancy at
Everton. David Moyes makes his return to
the Premier League at Sunderland after a disastrous stint at Manchester United
just a few years ago, Walter Mazzarrri is in at Watford, Hull City is still
looking, and Jurgen Klopp and Francesco Guidolin will enjoy their first full
seasons at Liverpool and Swansea.
The Silly Season
And where will all these new managers be spending their new
found riches? The combination of money
to burn and manager’s eager to put their personal stamps on their squads has
led to what has so far been a dizzying summer transfer window, known both
affectionately and maddeningly in Europe as the “silly season” for the
persistent daily rumor mill that is almost never ending. Last year’s record breaking total summer
transfer spend of $1 billion is expected to be surpassed this year and end up
in the region of $1.3 billion, with increases each summer moving forward a
foregone conclusion.
The giants of the league have wasted little coming out
wallets blazing, as Mourinho and United have brought in Zlatan Ibrahimovic and
Henrikh Mkhitaryan, with the likelihood that they will smash the world record
transfer fee with a deal for Paul Pogba any day now. City have countered with moves for Ilkay
Gundogan, Nolito, and young German LeRoy Sane, while Conte and Chelsea snatched
N’Golo Kante and Michy Batshuayi. Even minnows
Bournemouth have put the television money to work with a club record $20
million signing of promising young winger Jordan Ibe from Liverpool.
Sorry Arsenal fans.
Despite having a reported $200 million in the war chest for potential
transfer, the only bit of business that manager Arsene Wenger has managed to
pull off, other than being rebuffed by Leicester’s Jamie Vardy, has been the
acquisition of Granit Xhaka, which looks like a solid buy but will not solve
their lingering striker deficiencies. With
the transfer window open until the final day in August more big money moves are
sure to come, with teams able to adjust accordingly to any injuries or
deficiencies in their squads that might surface during the first four weeks of the
season.
See you all next week when we take a closer look at the
biggest games of Matchday 1.