Oh I don't doubt that there is more than just a cultural lure for South American players wanting to go to Spain and Barcelona in particular. The taxes in Spain are much lower than in the UK so a player earning £100K in Spain keeps a much higher proportion than a player earning £100K in England, and Spanish clubs have been very successful in Europe over the past ten years or so. But I do think it is definitely a factor.
However, in terms of what we can do about it, I don't see any quick fixes. The owners have put in place a number of measures that will mean we are getting better, more sustainable, sources of revenue over time. The statistics show that we are now closing that financial gap.
You could argue that the reason we're having to play catch up with the likes of Man Utd and Real Madrid is because we sat on our hands and got complacent in the 1990s. When the likes of Man Utd were developing these revenue streams, we were sitting around in the belief that the bootroom ethos alone would return us to the top of English football. For virtually the whole of the 1990s our club was run so amateurishly that whoever came along afterwards would have a mountain to climb to get us back to the financial parity that we need in order to have a realistic chance of us keeping our top players.
Have to say I agree with this, but I do agree with Diego on some points as well. It's a mixture of both. If Barca were sh*t, it would be another spanish club (whether it be Real, Atletico, Valencia or whoever) that, if they had the financial clout + success, then they'd be the one picking them all up. If Spain was an absolute dog sh*t league then it would just be another league, or teams in the PL (Torres to Chelsea for example). There's no defining science to any of this, it's just trends and history we can draw on.
Which leads me to your last paragraph which is something I very much believe in. It is so so SO difficult to take that last step back to the top after letting the others get a jump on ya. We let United first, then Arsenal, then Chelsea get a jump before we really started hitting it hard on the global front. To think Liverpool had never even turned up in Australia, one of their largest fanbases, until 2013, is nuts. Now it's pretty much every 2 years since then they make an appearance, as well as working in the other Asia-Pacific markets. US as well. The time spent "sitting on hands" as you said in the 90's is still being felt now. While we are almost there, that last step to being a consistent trophy winner is so hard - because you are trying to knock off teams that are established in that culture of winning. We don't have a culture of winning regularly, that disappeared in the 90's. Say what you want about history, no one here now has much of that in their DNA. We're the chaser, trying to knock off the big dogs. It's a lot easier said than done, and certainly isn't solved with irrational spending.
I would love to be consistently spending the money that City and co are, if it was financially viable. But it's not. FSG have always been in this with a view at sustainable growth, which I think if you take a good look at the club all the evidence is there. We have both extended our stadium and broken our transfer records, 2-3, maybe 4 times over the last couple years? Like seriously, until Mane wasn't Carroll still our record signing? Now Salah, Keita and soon VvD will be. All while massive redevelopment of Anfield has occurred, AND while a massive inflation in transfer prices that is, quite f**king frankly, ridiculous, is happening at the same time. To still be competitive with a solid business model (that again I stress, they've always been transparent about how they would run things) and showing growth in this age of massive prices that constantly seem to be skyrocketing, is a promising sign to me.
Do I believe they've made mistakes in judgement? Absolutely. But they've been learning as they're going and I think they're showing far more maturity in ownership the last few years. I see so much "well what did they do the first years!? NOTHING THE CHEAP SKATES" - well, they backed Kenny - against their better judgement they went with what the fans wanted, that didn't really work. All the while they were getting their feet wet and working out what they had to do to pick us up from the ground, because we were a f**king shambles both on the field and off it.
7 years in we have consistent growth, a bigger stadium, a squad that is ever improving in depth, lucrative sponsorships that if growth continues at pace will only get better, and the manager they AND we want.
I certainly wish they'd handle some transfers better, and not be so stubborn at times. But I also respect they stick to their guns and have never strayed from who they are, which we all (mostly) welcomed with open arms in October 2010.
Just my two cents. Again
