The Premier League is currently at the peak of its powers and clubs competing in the competition have grown to become very strong.
It is not just the big six, clubs such as Brighton, Aston Villa, Newcastle and West Ham are on par with some of the biggest teams in other European leagues, as evident in the Magpies’ recent hammering of PSG.
The gap in funds available to the English teams and their European counterparts is huge and that leaves them in a position to compete for all the European trophies available.
Pundit Stan Collymore believes this is not a good thing for the sport and that a healthy UEFA ecosystem means clubs in Eastern Europe, Portuguese clubs and others being competitive in European competitions.
Speaking about the topic to CaughtOffside, Collymore said: “We’re in a very, very strong footballing zone, without a doubt, and I don’t think many people will be surprised that the Premier League with its riches would have the strongest teams.
“The Premier League undoubtedly is entering an era where its money has and will continue to make, a difference in terms of getting the best players from around the world, and I wouldn’t be surprised that unless there’s some sort of real attempt from UEFA to implement some sort of financial fair play that allows teams in Holland, Belgium and Portugal, never mind in France, Spain, Italy, and Germany, to compete on a level playing field, then I don’t think it will be all English clubs that win the major European trophies.”
“Spanish clubs will always be there or thereabouts but we will get to a point if you’re not careful where it’ll be the vast majority of clubs are English with two or three Spanish clubs mixed in that are winning everything,” the pundit continued.
“Let’s not forget that if we’re looking back 40/50 years ago, we’re talking about clubs from behind the Iron Curtain being very competitive. Russian teams, Ukrainian teams. Others like Dukla Prague.
“Those days are gone, unfortunately, but for me, a healthy UEFA ecosystem means clubs in Eastern Europe, Portuguese clubs and others would be competitive in Europe, and I don’t see that being the case for some for some time to come.”
