Arsene Wenger Claims Money is 'Destroying' Europe's Five Biggest Leagues
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has claimed that clubs with 'huge financial power' are causing competition in domestic leagues to be 'destroyed'. Speaking ahead of the weekend's action, Wenger pointed to examples in France, England, Germany and Spain where one club is running away with each league.
He said: ''Unpredictability has gone down. When you look at the five big leagues in Europe, in December we already knew four champions. That means something is not right in our game. The huge financial power of some clubs is basically destroying the competition.''
Despite breaking Arsenal's transfer record bringing in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Wenger blasted the funds available to other clubs. Manchester City have spent almost double what nearest challengers United have this season and are subsequently 15 points ahead at the top of the league.
It is the same story across much of Europe with PSG and Barcelona sitting 11 points clear in their respective leagues - although Barcelona didn't spend heavily after the departure of Neymar - and domestic rivals just can't keep up.
Bayern Munich are 16 points clear in the Bundesliga and have spent £116m on players this season, over double the £56m second placed Bayer Leverkusen have spent.
It now appears that Serie A is the only one of the 'big five' leagues which will be competitive this year, with only one point separating league leaders Napoli and second place Juventus.
It remains to be seen whether there are any second half surprises in the leagues which appear wrapped up, but the gap in spending between top clubs and those lower in the division is showing no signs of closing.
