The title shouldn't really be a question but more of a foregone conclusion. Looks like Portsmouth is going to be the next club owned by a rich Arab billionaire after Manchester City.
Sulaiman Al Fahim looks like someone who is more level headed than the current owners of Man City and has vowed to take in the views of Portsmouth's loyal fanbase. Well, they always say that at buy-in periods, don't they?
This is the looming sign that the BPL is increasingly a cosmopolitan league that hosts the "hobby" interests of billionaires. Not that it necessarily is a bad thing since they have the cash to build this league into a major cauldron of superstars and mega teams, attracting TV revenue and investments from major sponsors.
But sooner or later, the BPL is going to take over world football in player talent and what's going to be left for the Primera Liga and Serie A? Can we ever see another team from another league apart from the BPL making the finals of the Champions League? We could possibly witness the top ten teams in Europe consisting of mostly English teams except for perhaps Barca and Real Madrid. And you can't really call this league an English league any more can you? The influx of Brazilians, Spainards, the French, Russians, Argentinians and what have you at all levels of play makes BPL more of a commercial league than conducive grounds for grooming English talent.
The fact is, fans of the old English Premier League must come to terms with this reality. Club history and values will certainly pale in comparison to the big money rolling in. New agendas by new owners who do not belong to the history of the club are likely to deride club values and clash with what the club stands for. The landscape has changed. The league could be increaisng its power and standing but it is starting to lose its unique identity which has endeared it to many of its most loyal fans. Pity.
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