Billed as a “fourth-place play-off”, tonight’s £60m match between Manchester City and Tottenham is being touted in some quarters as being the most significant match in Premier League history. Whilst this label might draw cries of hyperbole, the importance of tonight’s clash cannot be understated; for the victors, a first stab at Champions League football, the world’s premier football competition, is all but assured. For the losers, entry into UEFA’s lesser tournament, the Europa League, will become a consolatory certainty. Aside from this, the implications of tonight’s outcome may reverberate upon the fabric of the Premier League for seasons to come. For Tottenham, qualification into Europe’s elite competition would represent a chance to banish the lasagne-stained ghost of 2006, and an opportunity for the club and their fans to relish the prospect of competing against top-level European opposition for the first time since 1962.
Whilst qualifying for the Champions League would surely accentuate the allure of White Hart Lane, the gravitational pull of Eastlands would be akin to that of the sun if Manchester City claim that elusive fourth spot. Thus far, City’s trillions have failed to bring the cream of the world’s crop to the northwest. Whilst they have spent heavily, they have only managed to succeed in tempting players labelled by Oliver Kay in The Times as a “lower class mercenary”, a term used to describe the signings of players such as Gareth Barry, Emmanuel Adebayor and Carlos Tévez. Whilst undoubtedly quality players, with Tévez in particular excelling this season, City’s perceived lack of prestige and history has precluded the club from signing players from the game’s upper echelons, most notably former Ballon d’or recipient Kaká, three-time African Player of the Year winner Samuel Eto’o and Chelsea icon John Terry.
Whilst City’s history is not particularly impressive, their prospective ability to offer players Champions League football would surely cover up for their past inadequacies. Speaking to the Daily Express, Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon said, “I read that City were interested in me last summer. I don’t know if anything was tabled, but there is no way I could have considered it. I couldn’t justify leaving one of Europe’s most famous clubs for a team that are not playing football at the highest level.” Buffon also alluded to the fact that this attitude was carried by the majority of world-class footballers, stating that, “it doesn’t surprise me that a lot of big players have turned down Manchester City.”
Should City claim fourth, the combined lure of their wealth and the opportunity to play Champions League football would mean that they would possess unbelievable pulling power. Players moving to Manchester City would no longer suffer the ignominious taunts of being called “greedy mercenaries”– for they could legitimately claim they were joining City for footballing reasons. The Eastlands side would be able to blow other clubs out of the water when negotiating for players, and as such, would have the potential to stockpile a collection of the world’s best players. In doing so, City would further their chances of consolidating and stabilising their position within the Premiership’s top four.
If this were to be the case, only a fool would bet against Manchester City ensuring they maintain their berth within the top four for a good few seasons to come, meaning that it would be much harder for the likes of Tottenham, Aston Villa and the faltering Liverpool to compete for Champions League places in the future. Unless we witness a rapid decline at either Stamford Bridge, Old Trafford or the Emirates, City finishing fourth this season may lead to the creation of a new ‘big four’, with Liverpool standing to lose the most from this forthcoming prospect. The anticipated spending of both Manchester City and Chelsea would lead to opening up the gulf between the top four and the rest of the table, with the possibility that a sub-chasm could emerge within that top four.
Whilst ominous prophesising like this may be deemed excessive, it is all too apparent that within football, money talks. And money married with Champions League football talks double. Should Tottenham finish fourth, their summer spending is likely to be substantially more prudent than that of Manchester City, thus giving themselves, Aston Villa and Liverpool the chance to regroup for another assault upon the top-four next season. Should Manchester City grab fourth, it is likely that they will be able to attract the players required to cement their position, thus leading to another situation whereby the Champions League spots within the Premiership are monopolised.
For the sake of football, I will be hoping that the Lilywhites manage to emerge victorious at Eastlands tonight.
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