What the Global Economic Crisis means for Football

For The Record-the global economic crisis has already hurt Arsenal, while helping Liverpool and Manchester United. While their situations haven't changed in terms of the amount of debt or lack thereof, the value of the dollar has changed in comparison to the pound. What does this have to do with these English clubs? Both Liverpool and Manchester United are owned by Americans, so their money is now worth more. Arsenal is not owned by a single person or group, but one of their largest shareholders is Alisher Usmanov, an Uzbeki oil billionaire. During this crisis, the value of the ruble has plumetted upon extreme volatility in the Russian exchange. This puts a team like Arsenal at a disadvantage when trying to get a transfer like Andrei Arshavin. Their purchasing power has extremely diminished in the last year.

So what does the change in global economic climate mean? The purchasing power of different clubs has changed significantly.