IT’S opening night at football’s multi-billion dollar circus and spending has gone through the big-top roof.
So despite an almighty spree of his own, Arne Slot believes his Liverpool side will face tougher competition than ever if they are to retain their Premier League title.
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England’s biggest five clubs have already shelled out more than £1billion between them this summer, in a whopping total spend of £2.1billion — or £2.5bn including deal add-ons.
And as the defending champions roll up to Anfield to face Bournemouth, kicking off another season for the greatest show on Earth, the Dutchman expects the title battle to be fiercer than ever.
Liverpool’s imminent signing of Giovanni Leoni would take their summer outlay to around £300m — with deals for Alexander Isak and Marc Guehi still possible.
But world champs Chelsea have spent another quarter of a billion, followed by Manchester United (£200.5m), Arsenal (£181.8m) and Manchester City (£150.1m for a total of £324m in the calendar year).
And Slot said: “The reason why it’s so difficult lies mainly with the fact there are so many that can win the league over here.
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“To win it once is very special, if you can win it twice in five years like us — and City did even better — then that is unbelievable.
“And probably this year’s going to be harder than any year before because every team brings in new players. Our main competitors definitely did as well.
“The challenge in the Premier League is always the teams. We start with Bournemouth — the most intense in the league in terms of running and also playing style — and after that it’s Newcastle and Arsenal.
“That sums up this league and the challenges we have.”
If winning the title is a serious achievement, retaining it is far tougher — only Pep Guardiola’s City, Sir Alex Ferguson’s United and Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea have won back-to-back Premier League crowns.
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Slot would be walking among giants if he wins a second title in two seasons.
And while the signings of Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez provide a major platform, he still wants Newcastle striker Isak as well as Guehi, the England defender who skippered Crystal Palace to beat the Reds in Sunday’s Community Shield.
Perennial runners-up Arsenal are in a major recruitment drive too — adding Viktor Gyokeres, Noni Madueke, Martin Zubimendi, Christian Norgaard, Kepa Arrizabalaga and Cristhian Mosquera ahead of a critical campaign for Mikel Arteta.
As ever, Chelsea have bought in bulk — with strikers Joao Pedro and Liam Delap joining wingers Jamie Gittens and Estevao Willian, left-back Jorrel Hato and midfielder Dario Essugo at a club powered by its own brand of chaos.
Guardiola’s City — four-in-a-row champions before last term — have made four big signings in Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Cherki, Rayan Ait-Nouri and James Trafford, to add to their January quartet.
With United’s attacking overhaul bringing Benjamin Sesko, Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo in, never before have all of England’s major clubs seen such change.
Europa League winners Spurs have spent £100m-plus, with more to come — with even promoted Sunderland well over nine figures.
The league is increasingly competitive. The Liverpool-City duopoly — when two near-perfect teams needed close to 100 points to take the crown — is over.
No longer does one defeat spell disaster, yet fewer fixtures are a formality for any title-chasers.
With Liverpool making so many changes, Slot faces a different pressure to when he inherited Jurgen Klopp’s squad last summer.
He said: “I took over a team with only two weeks to prepare due to the Euros and Copa America.
“This year we’ve brought in very good, intelligent players who need to integrate. Bournemouth will bring a big challenge but everyone is looking forward to it.”
Roll up, roll up — tonight’s the night we begin to find out if they all have more money than sense.
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