With the Summer transfer window in full flow, clubs are continuing to scout diligently potential additions to their Premier League squads.
However a strange phenomenon has emerged in the past month or so which has seen a number of clubs regarded as mid-table dwellers, spending large sums of money on a single player. A sign of intent maybe? Or perhaps an attempt to shift themselves from the lower reaches of mid-table mediocrity, up to challenging for a European slot.
Newcastle United’s purchases of Gini Wijnaldum and Aleksandar Mitrović, both above the £10m threshold caused a stir. It was a serious showing of their financial muscle unlikely to be matched by clubs surrounding them such as Stoke City and West Bromwich Albion, teams not necessarily associated with spending big money on players.
However it has been the exact opposite of what many would have perceived for such clubs, with Stoke adding Swiss-international Xherdan Shaqiri for £12m while West Brom added Venezuelan forward Salomon Rondon to their ranks for a club record fee. Big name signings haven’t been the norm around the Brittania, the Hawthorns or St James’ Park in recent times. These clubs have often opted for the cut price option, which has resulted in relative mid-table mediocrity.
Yet it seems this trend is evolving and clubs that were once not usually threatening the Europa League qualification places and not seriously threatened by relegation, could somehow make a push for a steady place in the top half of the Premier League.
It has been a hot topic for many years, that since the emergence of the so-called ‘Top Six’, a table within the Premier League has been born, one where 7th place could be equivalent to 1st in the mid-table mediocrity league. The six biggest clubs in England and their stranglehold on the top six has been relatively impregnable in recent times; Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool and Tottenham normally rise above the rest of the competition.
However, clubs have been making noises beneath them, recruiting well and playing attractive football; Southampton and Swansea City spring to mind. The occupation of 7th, 8th and 9th place in the Premier League has been seen in recent years as the limit of the clubs in mid-table mediocrity, and that a challenge on the top six would require serious financial backing, tactical awareness and, hardest of all, the ability to prolong their stay in the top six past one season, which none of the aforementioned mid-table clubs have been able to do. Newcastle United managed to claim 5th position in 2011/12 but the following years have been dismal and the club has languished in the wrong half of the table.
Change could be on the horizon, with Southampton and Swansea recruiting summer additions very astutely once again with the likes of Jordy Clasie and Andre Ayew respectively, whilst sides traditionally below those two clubs in the last few seasons are also adding quality to their squads for the 2015/16 season. What could emerge this year is the fiercest battle for mid-table mediocrity we have witnessed since the inception of the Premier League, and potentially one club, provided they gain form at the right times during the season, could launch an assault on the Europa League places, surprising us all. No longer will clubs confined to 11th and 12th place feel as though their season is over in February with nothing to fight for but retaining a healthy points tally, as the desire shown by clubs in the transfer market shows that each and every club not immediately threatened by relegation will be looking towards the hazy horizons of European football and the top spot outside of the revered ‘Top Six’
