Why the Premier League 2014-15 is unusual in several ways
Manchester United spent unusually high on Ángel Di María, Ander Herrera, Luke Shaw, Marcos Rojo and Daley Blind to recover from the Champions League less season. As of now, they look strong to achieve Champions League spot.
- Liverpool spent unusually heavy on players including Adam Lallana, Dejan Lovren, Lazar Markovi?, Mario Balotelli and Alberto Moreno to replace their goal machine Luis Suárez. As of now, they couldn’t replace.
- Chelsea were at their normal heavy spending form by signing Diego Costa, Cesc Fàbregas and Filipe Luís to challenge for the title under Jose Mourinho’s second stint but they also recovered majority of them by selling some star players including David Luiz and Romelu Lukaku for good sums of money which is very unusual. Currently, their transfer spending seems wise as all their signings are performing as expected and have helped them in challenging for the title.
- Arsenal broke their transfer spending records by signing players including Alexis Sánchez, Danny Welbeck, Mathieu Debuchy and Calum Chambers to break away from the Premier League title drought. Currently, it seems impossible as they stand 6th in the table.
- Southampton shelled out huge amount of money they received from selling their key players
- Queens Park Rangers and Hull City spent too much in relation to their clubs’ size
Which clubs benefited the most from the money they spent?
Net Expenditure (Expenditure on signing players – Earnings on selling players) Per Point Earned (NEPPE) gives a clear indication on the short-term yield for each of these clubs. Following is the table showing the NEPPE in million Euros of the premier league clubs this season so far (after 15 league games).
Surprisingly, the top 8 teams in terms of NEPPE are placed within top 14 positions in the league table. Southampton, Swansea City, Stoke City, Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea, Aston Villa, Sunderland and Newcastle has gained good yields for the money they spent. They are all effective.
In the next 8 teams in terms of NEPPE, all 6 teams from the bottom are present. These teams are struggling and haven’t been effective in the transfer season. Among these QPR and Hull City have spent more than what other clubs of similar stature could. It will affect these clubs more than others.
In the bottom 4 teams in terms of NEPPE, we have Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Everton. Arsenal and Liverpool are clearly struggling this season, but they might come back stronger in the rest of the season. Manchester United has spent abnormally high and unless they lead the title race, their spending hasn’t yielded effectively (at least in the short term).
Everton is shown to be a low short-term yield club as per data this season. But it's supposed that they are one of the most judicious clubs to spend on the right players. NEPPE just covers the very short term yield. Certain clubs do earn points as a benefit of signings over several years. That will be covered in the upcoming article to understand which club has been in recent times judicious on transfer spending and yield earning.
This article has been contributed by a member of the SK Featured Bloggers Club. It was originally published on the 'Stat Screamer' blog here.