Deloitte's Tim Bridge analyzes Messi's Paris St-Germain decisionProject Big Picture was scrapped. The proposals for a European Super League fell apart. However, the financial inequalities that plague top-level football continue to be a problem.It could even be said that the coronavirus epidemic has contributed to their escalation.English football rejected Big Picture and Super League, two major plans that were presented in the last year and would have granted more financial power and power to the largest clubs. The domestic game was then overwhelmed by self-congratulation. Principles had triumphed over finance.So the story ended.The cries for an equitable financial system in English football seem hollow right now. Chelsea just spent 97.5m for Romelu Lukaku. Manchester United were willing to pay a combined total of 108m for Jadon Sáncho and Raphael Varane.Manchester City broke the British transfer record by buying Jack Grealish for 100m from Aston Villa. They may break the record again if they are able to persuade Spurs not to sell Harry Kane, England's captain, after they face Tottenham in the Premier League.The big signings are not only in England. The wealth and ownership structure of City has seen them repeatedly mocked as a "state-owned" club by Javier Tebas, president of La Liga external-link - the same critic who also criticizes Paris St-Germain.PSG has been active on the market as well. They have spent 60m from Inter Milan on Achraf Hakimi, their wing-back, after the jaw-dropping signing by Lionel Messi of the French giants.It seems as though, in England and elsewhere, the financial consequences of the coronavirus epidemic have offered an opportunity to increase the gap between the wealthiest and the poorest.Isn't it worth millions of dollars for clubs to be affected by the pandemic?"It's different approaches," Tim Bridge of Deloitte’s Sports Business Group said to BBC's The Sports Desk podcast. "Some clubs have used it as an opportunity."In the case Manchester City and PSG with their notably wealthy backers it feels like they feel more at ease continuing as normal because they have almost a bit of security net.Manchester United has really taken advantage of it. They thought that Jadon Sancho might have cost us more than 100m. We can do it this summer for 70 million or more. We have the funds. Let's do it now."Arsenal spent 50 million on Brighton defender Ben White. Spurs paid almost 70m for Cristian Romo, winger Bryan Gil, and goalkeeper Pierluigi Glini. Leicester bought Patson Daka, and midfielder Boubakary Sumare.Villa spent the Grealish money to buy Leon Bailey, Danny Ings, and Emi Buendia, the record signing. However, spending is limited beyond that. Marc Guehi's 18m move to Crystal Palace from Chelsea was the largest Premier League transfer this summer.According to Transfermarkt, 31 transactions in excess of $5m were completed during this window.Bridge stated that the Jack Grealish signing had pumped 100 million into the industry. "Normally, that creates a domino effect. We would see the money move from club to club as the transfers take place."What's going on this summer, and likely for the foreseeable future is that the line between dominoes will be much shorter because you reach a point when a club requires cash to survive. Instead of investing it in players, they stop.What about Financial Fair Play?Financial Fair Play (FFP), rules still in effect in the Premier League and Uefa contests.In June 2020, European football's governing body declared that two years worth of accounts would be merged into one, and that "specific Covid-19 adjustments would be allowed."This was widely understood in football to mean that big-spending clubs could use it as an opportunity to hide losses and comply with FFP limits.PSG, England's big six', emerged from the Super League scandal with their Uefa status improved.It's not too much to say that Uefa were greatly helped by the decision made by Nasser Al Khalaifi, chairman of PSG, to keep his club out of the Super League.Al-Khelaifi is now the chairman of the influential European clubs' Association.Uefa's suggestion that it might step in to stop PSG spending is absurd, even though they didn't adhere to FFP limits (which Al-Kehlaifi insists they will). External-linkAl-Khelaifi stated Wednesday that "We always examine things with our commercial and financial people - we saw that we had the ability to sign him [Messi]". "If we didn't, we wouldn’t have signed him."Al-Khelaifi's assessment is supported by Deloitte’s Bridge.He said, "He is absolutely correct." "We still have a few days to go before the transfer window closes. They have the chance to sell players."FFP operates over a longer time period so it's difficult to take a snapshot at what PSG does at a particular point in time and say: Oh that means they can’t comply with it."Are big spending and the Premier League at risk?Klopp: Liverpool's financial power is not comparable to that of other clubs - LiverpoolAlthough the Premier League is conducting a live investigation into Manchester City’s historic spending, it is unlikely that the investigation will be completed anytime soon despite the resolution of the most recent legal battle.Richard Masters, chief executive of Premier League, spoke to BBC and said that he was not concerned about the impact high spending might have on the competitive edge of the top flight.He said, "I don’t think we’ll be less competitive." It hasn't been proved yet. This season is expected to be competitive, and there are many clubs that want to go to Europe."Clubs have always invested heavily in the strength and potential of their squads. This is a good thing. You are likely to be either standing still or moving backwards if you don't invest."Clubs have to manage their finances. They must adhere to Uefa's financial rules as well as ours."They may have spending, but they also have sales. So we will see how the books balance at the end."But it doesn't seem to be creating a new dynamic in the Premier League."Premier League remains the "most competitive league in Europe" - MastersAre there other ways to prosper?Brentford will be the 50th Premier League club when they play Arsenal in Friday's season-opener.Their budget was much smaller than that of many of their competitors, even in the Championship. They had to devise a new plan.Brentford broke their transfer record by paying Celtic 13.5 million for Norway's central defender Kristoffer Arjer.Their overall plan is the same as ever since Phil Giles, co-director of football arrived at the club on May 2015.He stated that he knew money was not going to be able to compete with clubs like those mentioned by BBC Sport."We realized the only way was to sell players, as we weren't going to be able to get that much money through Griffin Park.It meant that you had to purchase players who could develop. You also had to accept the fact that you would have to make some sacrifices in order to get there. It was accepted that it would be long-term. There was no quick fix."In the end we got to the Premier League by developing players, both for helping the team and also to generate the funds to buy players."
