Football and Finance: Scouts’ Honour

How three middling clubs used clever hiring to beat the top dogs

If you had told football fans in a pub 15 years ago that Manchester City, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur would one day dominate the Premier League, they might have told you to make it your last pint of the day. In 2004 City finished 16th, Spurs 14th and Liverpool a distant fourth. The ruling triumvirate of Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United were the only clubs to win the competition in 1996-2011.

Yet today the league tables are turned. The Premiership’s new sultans are Manchester City, who on May 12th sealed their fourth title in eight seasons, to the delight of Abu Dhabi’s royal family, who bought the club in 2008. One point behind were Liverpool, whose tally of 97 made them the best runners-up ever. On June 1st the Merseyside team will face Tottenham in the final of the Champions League, Europe’s most prestigious tournament. What has allowed this new trio to dominate?考生如果怕自己錯過考試報名時間和考試時間的話，可以 免費預約短信提醒，屆時會以短信的方式提醒大家報名和考試時間。

Money is part of the answer. In 2008-12 Manchester City splurged £520m ($675m) on transfers. Fenway Sports Group, an American firm that bought a near-bankrupt Liverpool in 2010 for £300m, now spends that much a season on players’ wages and transfer fees. But lots of English clubs are wealthy: nine of the world’s 20 highest-earning clubs are English. City spends only 8% more per year on players than United, and Spurs pay 20% less than Arsenal.

In the past, Premier League clubs squandered their wealth. When 21st Club, a consultancy, plotted European teams’ spending against their results, 16 of the 20 English sides sat below the trend line. Continental clubs charge higher transfer fees to affluent Premier League sides, who spend 80% more than their rivals for the same level of talent. What’s more, English clubs have a habit of buying ageing stars rather than nurturing talented youngsters.

Manchester City, Liverpool and Tottenham have learned from these mistakes. Since 2016 the players they have signed have been younger and from less flashy clubs than those bought by their rivals. City paid £55m for Kevin de Bruyne, a midfielder for Wolfsburg, a mediocre German team. Liverpool bought Mohamed Salah, an attacker for Roma, for £37m. Now in their peak years, each has become his team’s best player. This season Spurs became the first club in Premier League history not to sign a single player, after years of recruiting young talents from lesser clubs. Many have matured into stars, such as Son Heung-min (from Leverkusen) and Dele Alli (from Milton Keynes).

Meanwhile Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal have made costly errors. United made 30-year-old Alexis Sánchez the league’s highest earner, on £25m a year. But the striker scored just five goals in 45 games. Chelsea got rid of Álvaro Morata, a £60m striker from Real Madrid, after just a year. Arsenal have purchased several woeful defenders.

Challenges remain for the new trio at the top – not least an investigation by UEFA, Europe’s football authority, into claims of financial irregularities at City, which could mean a season-long ban (City deny it). Either way, on June 1st an English side will win the Champions League for the first time in seven years.

足球與金融：球探的榮耀

三家中游俱樂部如何運用巧妙的選人策略擊敗豪門俱樂部

如果15年前你跟一間酒吧里的球迷們說，曼城、利物浦和托特納姆熱刺有一天會成為英超聯賽的主宰，那他們可能會跟你說，行了行了，可別再喝了。曼城在2004年的排名是第16位，熱刺第14，利物浦比較靠前，排在第四。當時稱雄的是阿森納、切爾西和曼聯，從1996到2011年，只有這三家俱樂部贏得過英超冠軍。

然而今天的排名已經轉變。曼城成了英超的新蘇丹。5月12日，曼城獲得了八個賽季的第四個冠軍，令在2008年收購了這家俱樂部的阿布扎比皇室甚為欣喜。利物浦落后一分，以97分的成績成為有史以來分數最高的亞軍。6月1日，這支來自默西賽德郡(Merseyside)的球隊將在歐洲最負盛名的賽事歐洲冠軍聯賽的決賽中對陣熱刺。是什么讓這新三強笑傲英超?

金錢是部分答案。2008到2012年，曼城豪擲5.2億英鎊(6.75億美元)用于支付轉會費。2010年，美國公司芬威體育集團(Fenway Sports Group)以3億英鎊的價格收購了幾近破產的利物浦，如今每個賽季要花費同樣的金額支付球員的工資和轉會費。但很多英國俱樂部都很有錢：全球收入最高的20個俱樂部中有9家來自英國。曼城每年在球員身上的花費僅比曼聯多8%，熱刺則比阿森納少20%。

在過去，英超俱樂部大肆揮霍它們的財富。咨詢公司21st Club研究了歐洲各支球隊的支出與賽果的對比情況，繪制成圖表。圖表顯示20支英國球隊中有16支位于趨勢線以下。歐洲大陸的俱樂部會向富足的英超球隊收取更高的轉會費，后者購買相同水平的球員要比競爭對手多花80%。另外，英國俱樂部習慣購買更成熟的球星，而不是培養有才華的年輕人。

曼城、利物浦和熱刺從這些錯誤中吸取了教訓。自2016年以來，它們簽下的球員比競爭對手購買的球員更年輕，之前所屬的俱樂部也沒那么耀眼。曼城以5500萬英鎊簽下了平庸的德國球隊沃爾夫斯堡(Wolfsburg)的中場凱文·德布勞內(Kevin de Bruyne)。利物浦以3700萬英鎊的價格買下了羅馬的前鋒穆罕默德·薩拉赫(Mohamed Salah)?，F在他們都處于各自的巔峰期，也都成了所在球隊的最佳球員。本賽季熱刺成為英超歷史上首支一名球員也沒有簽下的俱樂部。多年來，熱刺一直在從更低級別的俱樂部中招募年輕球員。當中的許多人已經成為明星，如孫興慜(Son Heung-min，來自勒沃庫森)和迪利·阿里(Dele Alli，來自米爾頓凱恩斯)。

與此同時，曼聯、切爾西和阿森納卻犯下了代價高昂的錯誤。曼聯給30歲的亞歷克西斯·桑切斯(Alexis Sánchez)開出了2500萬英鎊的年薪，這使他成為英超收入最高的球員。但這位前鋒在45場比賽中只打入了5球。切爾西之前以6000萬英鎊簽下了皇家馬德里的前鋒阿爾瓦羅·莫拉塔(Álvaro Morata)，但僅僅一年之后就把他打發走了。阿森納也買下了幾名糟糕透頂的后衛。

傲立英超之巔的新三強仍面臨挑戰——特別是曼城因涉嫌金融違規而遭到歐洲足球管理機構歐足聯的調查，這可能會招致禁賽一個賽季的處罰(曼城否認有違規行為)。不管怎樣，6月1日，七年來將首次由一支英國球隊捧走歐冠的冠軍獎杯。

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