Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool are the four teams who have consistently spent the most amount of money during the transfer windows over the last few years. But let's not forget just how much Tottenham, Newcastle and Sunderland, Birmingham and Aston Villa splash out too.

In fact, Premier League teams in general, through sponsorship and television money, spend by far the most in the world of soccer. Even the Championship is a big spender - in fact, it is the fourth richest league in Europe. Unbelievable yes, but true. So playground-type arguments over who is going to spend the most is rather futile.

The transfer world is a bizarre place at this moment in time. Chelsea upped the ante a few years back by paying absolutely ludicrous fees for basically average players. But can we blame them for the astronomical upturn in the size of wages and transfers, or was it bound to happen sooner rather than later?

With the vast sums of money available, the market was going to become more competitive. But the thought process that foriegners were better players, plus the ridiculous Bosman ruling, has dictated that just above average players are moving around the European leagues like sporting prostitutes, selling themselves to the highest bidders.

Should we blame them? No. Most of us would do the same given the chance. Yet it has turned the whole football world into a mercenary affair and there is no sign of a let-up. Unfortunately, there is a knock-on effect.

What is happening now (with the exception of Arsenal) is that the big guns are letting other teams buy potentially good foriegners, watching their progress for a year or two and then stepping in to capture a ready-made Premier League player. It's what was common practice with potentially top-class youngsters in Britain who were farmed out on loan to find their feet in the Championship before returning.

It still happens, yet more and more British youngsters are not breaking through. There is a real dearth of English talent to look for in comparison to not that long ago. Players who are good enough are swallowed by the bigger teams, where they are unable to hold down a regular place and are then forced to move on in a year or two.

People may hit me with facts and figures about how many English players are currently performing in the top flight, but it is certainly a lot less than there used to be. To be quite honest, I don't care who spends the most money in the EPL this summer simply because not a lot is going to change at the top - Man United or Chelsea will win the league. Liverpool will flatter to decieve yet again and Arsenal will entertain as always yet finish with very little.

The EPL is becoming a mirror image of the SPL. Yes, it's bigger and there is a higher standard of player involved but, ultimately, who is going to win the league? It's a two horse race. I'm not undermining anyone else, it's just the way it is.

Arsenal and Liverpool are in a constant state of redevelopment while Man United and Chelsea have a constant core that they add to and improve on. And it's a big core - from goalkeeper right through to the strikers. Liverpool fans cannot tell me that they have a core as good as the other two.

Yes, they have Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher and Fernando Torres, but it's not the same as Edwin van der Sar, Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand, Paul Scholes, Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo et al. Its not the same. It's not the same as having Petr Cech, John Terry, Ashley Cole, Michael Ballack, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba.

It's not nice to admit, but even if you are a fan of Liverpool and Arsenal you must know that the basis of the other two teams' squads are better. The potential in Liverpool and Arsenal is there for all to see, but it's a matter of turning potential into the finished product. I'm not attacking these teams or criticising them, these are the reasons why neither have lifted the Premier League title recently.

Arsenal's team last year was incredible and I've touched on this before. If Cesc Fabregas had had a Paul Scholes-type player beside him all season, then perhaps it would have been different, but he didn't - and Arsenal didn't win anything. If Rafael Benitez can turn the obvious potential in the current Liverpool squad into consistent winners then great. Hopefully this time next year I'll be pointing out why Man United and Chelsea failed to win anything.

The amount of money spent this summer will be obscene by the time the window closes. But, ultimately, it will not change who finishes first or second.