In football, like many other sports, money is essential. But this is especially evident in football, as wealth determines almost everything. The world's three best clubs: Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Bayern Munich are also all in the top four in terms of their riches.
In football, wealth determines the players a club can sign, the marketability of a club, the scouts a club can inherit, the coaches and managers a club can attract, as well as the quality of the training facilities and, of course, the stadium size and beauty. All of which factor into the foundation of a great club.
Though some clubs such as Leicester City, who won the 2016 English Premier League campaign, have built success on relatively limited resources; practically all other major tournament titles in Europe have been granted to ten of the richest clubs in the world.
Obviously, money is going to be a huge factor, however, there are other things that should go into the success of a club such as current form, current players and coaches, recent achievements, the passion of the fan base, and/or culture surrounding the club.
Other than money, the two things that contribute most to the success of a club at any given time are its players and coaches.
However, in modern times, you seemingly can't find the best players and coaches without money. Nor can you hold onto the best players or coaches without money.
The case of world class Leicester City midfielder N'Golo Kanté illustrates this notion perfectly. Kanté has completed a move away from the 2016 Premier League Champions to the mid-table moneybags of Chelsea.
The question is: why? Why would Kanté leave the unbelievable culture he has helped create at Leicester? Why would Kanté leave the champions of the Premier League for a mid-table team? Why would Kanté stop playing for his beloved manager Claudio Ranieri? And most of all, why would Kanté leave a Champions League Club to play for a club that will not even play abroad in Europe this coming season?
The unfortunate reason for this seemingly flawed logic is money. But the reality is that money is about more in football than just getting a higher pay check. Players like Kanté all over realize that a club without vast financial resources can only stay atop for so long. And also, super clubs in poor form can only be sleeping giants for so long. In the given scenario, Kanté probably realizes that moving to Chelsea is actually a valid choice based not only on his future wealth, but also based on each club's potential for future success.
So while Leicester may be the reigning champions of the Premier League and while Chelsea may have been an average side amongst their premier league opposition last season; the likelihood is that Chelsea will still manage to see more success in the coming season than Leicester. And this is unfortunately due to the seemingly insurmountable impact money has on the sport of football.
