Manchester City, Manchester United, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Fulham, Portsmouth, Liverpool and West Ham are now owned by foreign bodies. Arsenal and Birmingham are being courted, along with many others, as the Premier League is being circled by the world's finest.

Is it any wonder? To outsiders, English football is a hugely attractive proposition. Thanks to huge television deals with Sky and Setanta, £2.7 billion is being injected into the Premier League over the next three seasons. That's £45 million for each club even before a season ticket, replica shirt or pie has been sold.

The worldwide appeal of the Premier League is mammoth, with live games and highlights being shown in over 200 countries. What astute businessman would not like a piece of that fat pie? But who are these people, slowly sliding into the "beautiful game"?

'It's a cruel roundabout, and the clubs suffering the most are the ones not owned by billionaires'


Thaksin Shinawatra at City had £1 billion worth of assets frozen in Thailand and was seriously questioned by humans rights groups over his policies. George Gillett at Liverpool has a $1 billion bankruptcy on his CV, and Tom Hicks, his co-chairman at Liverpool, bankrolled George Bush in America.

Roman Abramovich has been accused of many things, but where would Chelsea be without him? And do their fans really care about his asset stripping back in Russia? Did Mohamed Al-Fayed buy Fulham for sinister reasons or does he actually care about the club? He still can't get a British passport, anyway.

Randy Lerner at Villa seems to be the only GENUINE fan, who appreciates Villa's history. He has a fair amount of spare cash, so is not in it for money. Breaking even is acceptable.

All of them have differing reasons. But is it to the detriment of English football?. It's tricky. The football is superb; top-drawer entertainment every week. English football was already buying foreigners and reducing their interest in home-grown talent; the billionaire owners cannot be blamed for that, although they certainly continued with even higher wages and transfer fees. Thus ticket prices went up and suddenly attendances were going down.

It's a cruel roundabout, and the clubs suffering the most are the ones not owned by billionaires. Mistakes have been made. Serious mistakes. Clubs trying to play catch-up are bloating their overdrafts to compete. UEFA President Michel Platini has been quoted as saying: "I would be worried if I were English because of all the foreign ownership, I fear your clubs will lose identity. If it was in France, I would fight."

There are respected people within English football who are seriously worried. Change - big change - is never really looked upon favourably when it's strangers who are enforcing it. We really cannot see into the future, but where is this going to leave English football? Every club in England has a proud history and this is something that could bring about change that will not be reversible.

The identity WILL be gone. It will have to implode at some point - a long, long time from now, granted. I do fear for the long-term future of football in England as a whole and am genuinely concerned. But if the fans are happy and the sugar daddies keep plowing the money in, isn't everyone happy?