⚽ Is the Premier League becoming like the NBA?

[Italian Panic]

Obviously, I’m just being provocative here because the formats of the two leagues are completely different, but I’m referring to the financial and elitist nature of the Premier League.

Until a few years ago, the best players aspired to play in Italy and for Spanish clubs; in England, Ferguson’s Manchester United, Wenger’s Arsenal and Abramovich’s Chelsea dominated, alongside Steven Gerrard’s Liverpool. Players who went to play in the Premier League were the exception. Twenty years on, the Premier League is every player’s ambition, whether for money or prestige.

For example, Sandro Tonali is moving from Newcastle to Tottenham, so there’s no career progression in moving from a team not competing in European competitions to another that hasn’t qualified. It’s certainly a better contract.

What I see is that many players, just to play in the Premier League, are willing to join mid table or lower table sides; something that would be unthinkable in other leagues. It’s just like the NBA: a player isn’t interested in joining the Nuggets rather than the Golden State Warriors or the Mavericks; the important thing is to play in the NBA.

What do you think?

[ZeroVinsonN]

You think a player can just join whatever club they want to? The club has to want you too, with that or you are a free agent the rest of your professional career. People clearly still want to play for the big team but that's also why it's difficult because if everyone wants something, only a select few will be able to get it and the rest will have to work hard to put themselves in a position where the clubs will want them while also making due with what's available in the mean time.
After all you can't be a good footballer if you are no playing and if you are not playing then no reasonable club eill want you.
I'm not too big on the NBA so I don't fully understand the comparison.

[Futurexxx]

What I see is that many players, just to play in the Premier League, are willing to join mid table or lower table sides; something that would be unthinkable in other leagues. It’s just like the NBA: a player isn’t interested in joining the Nuggets rather than the Golden State Warriors or the Mavericks; the important thing is to play in the NBA.

What do you think?

You made a good observation here on how most players just want to come to the English premier league, which i believe is mostly for popularity, but I wouldn't entirely agree with your sentiment because the dream team for most footballers nowadays is real madrid or Barcelona, but if any of these teams are not coming forth, that's when the English team is preferred.

We have seen players from the Spanish laliga jump to any opportunity that will bring them to the English premier league, but if they have to choose between going to real madrid or Barcelona and the Epl, they will choose real madrid or Barcelona over a move to any English premier league side, correct me if am wrong on this.

[Iranus]

For example, Sandro Tonali is moving from Newcastle to Tottenham, so there’s no career progression in moving from a team not competing in European competitions to another that hasn’t qualified. It’s certainly a better contract.

What I see is that many players, just to play in the Premier League, are willing to join mid table or lower table sides; something that would be unthinkable in other leagues. It’s just like the NBA: a player isn’t interested in joining the Nuggets rather than the Golden State Warriors or the Mavericks; the important thing is to play in the NBA.

What do you think?

Speaking of Tonali. Newcastle played in Champions League last season and also won Carabao Cup, yet he left Newcastle for Tottenham. Tottenham, on the other hand, were not in European football at that time. So this move is not obvious as purely sporting progression.

But Spurs bought him for an initial ~£92.5m, which will go up to £100m with bonus.
And Tonali himself said that a conversation of about two hour with De Zerbi played big role in his decision. Here we need to look at financial ecosystem of Premier League. Afaik, in last two years, aggregate revenue of this league's clubs was about £6.8 billion. And I saw that this session it was projected to exceed £7 billion. Even mid-table English club often pay players higher salary and transfer fee than non elite club in Serie A or La Liga.

[cryptomaniac_xxx]

What I see is that many players, just to play in the Premier League, are willing to join mid table or lower table sides; something that would be unthinkable in other leagues. It’s just like the NBA: a player isn’t interested in joining the Nuggets rather than the Golden State Warriors or the Mavericks; the important thing is to play in the NBA.

What do you think?

I can't say about Premier League though, but as far as NBA not sure what you meant that players are not interested in joining the Nuggets. Denver has been a champion and they have the best big man in Jokic. As for the Warriors, they have build a dynasty, but right now they are aging so I don't know if players wanted to play with them. Dallas has a young core and still have Kyrie.

So it doesn't make sense, obviously players pick team based on what they offer. Meaning they go regardless of the teams as long as the contract is huge. Although there could be instance like Lebron James joining the Sixers for a minimum but he has is the GOAT already so he can go on whatever teams he wants.

[Charcol]

Players who went to play in the Premier League were the exception. Twenty years on, the Premier League is every player’s ambition, whether for money or prestige.

Back then, the Premier League might not have controlled the entire market like it does today. But even 20 years ago, the Premier League had big clubs like Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, and big players went there. Of course, there have been changes at some points, and the appeal of the Premier League was limited to a few big clubs. But now we see that even mid-table or lower-table clubs can offer better salaries, better contracts, and greater exposure than many of the traditional clubs in Europe. Perhaps this is why players are now interested in coming to the Premier League not only because of the title prospects, but also because of the league's brand value, salaries, quality of competition, and future market value.

[New Judgement]

The premier league has been an attractive league for years, and it has also remained the most watched league in Europe top 5 leagues. So it’s not surprising when it is attracting big players to come play there. The pay is also good, so to the players it’s a big win for them, playing in the most watched league in Europe and you are also earning better wages. So there will be no need to leave to somewhere else. But honestly I still believe that Barcelona and Real Madrid still retain that pull factor on players. The very best players in the premier league will jump to the offer of joining Barcelona or Real Madrid.

[swogerino]

Obviously, I’m just being provocative here because the formats of the two leagues are completely different, but I’m referring to the financial and elitist nature of the Premier League.

Until a few years ago, the best players aspired to play in Italy and for Spanish clubs; in England, Ferguson’s Manchester United, Wenger’s Arsenal and Abramovich’s Chelsea dominated, alongside Steven Gerrard’s Liverpool. Players who went to play in the Premier League were the exception. Twenty years on, the Premier League is every player’s ambition, whether for money or prestige.

For example, Sandro Tonali is moving from Newcastle to Tottenham, so there’s no career progression in moving from a team not competing in European competitions to another that hasn’t qualified. It’s certainly a better contract.

What I see is that many players, just to play in the Premier League, are willing to join mid table or lower table sides; something that would be unthinkable in other leagues. It’s just like the NBA: a player isn’t interested in joining the Nuggets rather than the Golden State Warriors or the Mavericks; the important thing is to play in the NBA.

What do you think?

I don't think it is about a quest for prestige rather it is a quest for money and comparing the top 5 major soccer leagues of Europe certainly the Premier League looks the better suited in being more rich offering more money to players in general. It is easy to distinguish such thing, just go to Flashscore app, keep checking line ups of the squads and you will see that Premier League offers more money to their players on average, I am excluding the likes of PSG or Manchester city when comparing these major leagues as they are in a league of their own regarding money.

[rdluffy]

They have a lot of money to offer, hehehe
They pay the clubs a lot to sign players and pay the players well, offering a good quality of life in England, so why not?

I’m from Brazil, and although I don’t exactly agree with the NBA-Premier League comparison, I do agree with your general point of view: the Premier League has become MUCH better known here in Brazil compared to previous years
The Spanish and Italian leagues used to be more popular, but now the Premier League is more popular

I believe this is because several teams are in fight for the title, rather than just two like in the Spanish league, or leagues dominated by a single club, like the French and German leagues

I’ll say it again: English teams are paying A LOT, so it’s tempting
Palmeiras just sold Allan to Manchester City for 40 million euros
It’s simply the 8th-highest transfer fee ever paid for a player in Brazilian football. It seems like a pretty inflated price to me.

[Audrey Simmons]

What do you think?

The decision to leave a club is made by both the club and the players, but the power lies more in the hands of the club to decide. We saw the struggle between Napoli and Osimhen, with the club refusing to sell to big clubs that were interested in him. A player can't terminate his contract because he wants to leave and join the club of his choice, contracts bind every decision.

Ask yourself, why did Emiliano Martínez happily leave Aston Villa, which qualified for the UCL, to join Chelsea, which did not?

[Don Pedro Dinero]

The point here is that the Premier League is spending the most money, so it's only natural. A search on google (AI) tells us:

Data from Transfermarkt for the summer 2026 transfer window highlights the massive financial gap between England's top flight and the rest of Europe's "Big 5" leagues:

Football LeagueSummer   2026 Gross Transfer Spending
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Premier League           ~$4.76 Billion (£3.49bn)
🇮🇹 Serie A                       ~$1.16 Billion
🇩🇪 Bundesliga                  ~$907 Million
🇪🇸 La Liga                       ~$874 Million
🇫🇷 Ligue 1                       ~$694 Million

Ultimately, players go where they can earn the most money (with a few exceptions), so it's normal for them to prefer playing for a mid-table Premier League team rather than a top French team if the Premier League team pays them more.

[danherbias07]

You have a point. You mean just to get that contract first and then maybe make your way up from there.

Well, the NBA is where the highest-paid basketball players are, and getting a slot there will be awesome for a player who is aspiring to be the next NBA star. Even a bench player can get a good contract that will allow him to live in a good manner, although not a luxurious one.

Put yourself in their position. Will you really not do the same? A good contract in a prestigious league and a chance to be a star and be one of the highest-paid football players. That's something.

[Cossyblack]

You made a good observation here on how most players just want to come to the English premier league, which i believe is mostly for popularity, but I wouldn't entirely agree with your sentiment because the dream team for most footballers nowadays is real madrid or Barcelona, but if any of these teams are not coming forth, that's when the English team is preferred.

We have seen players from the Spanish laliga jump to any opportunity that will bring them to the English premier league, but if they have to choose between going to real madrid or Barcelona and the Epl, they will choose real madrid or Barcelona over a move to any English premier league side, correct me if am wrong on this.

Since you said most players and not all will preferred to join real madrid or Barcelona I think you made a good point because it is not every top player that will like to to play for real madrid or Barcelona. Players have the right to make choices regardless of money that is offer to them. I know that real madrid and Barcelona are rich but there are still some top players that will turn down their offers regardless whatever amount that is on the table. Some players are moved by passion that's why in the past, players sometimes snub a move to real madrid or Barcelona because they don't have the passion to play in those clubs. So it is not all about money because hadn't been best players are moved by money alone probably real madrid or Barcelona would have signed all of them by now.

[Hewlet]

What I see is that many players, just to play in the Premier League, are willing to join mid table or lower table sides; something that would be unthinkable in other leagues. It’s just like the NBA: a player isn’t interested in joining the Nuggets rather than the Golden State Warriors or the Mavericks; the important thing is to play in the NBA.

In this circle, you have the agent, the club, the manager and then the player. of these four people, the players say is the least that is put into consideration when effecting transfer for a player and so, it is not right that players are comfortable moving from an higher team to a much lower one. imagine that the player is not doing well in his current club, where will the promotion come from?

Club are after profit that they stand t get from sells of players and then they can talk about how a player can help them win trophies. if you can not help a team win trophy and cant give them profit, then no team will take you seriously and that is the reason why most players are not emotionally attached to a team. it is all about business.

[L E G E N D A R Y]

Trust me, I totally understand your plight, and if you ask me, I’ll say the biggest change is that the league itself has become some sort of a status symbol. Even without a member moving to a bigger club now, they’ll still have that feeling of moving up, because staying in England alone can already mean better pay, career opportunities and visibility; and this is basically what makes Tonali’s move quite interesting. If the sporting is unchanged, then what really stands as a motivation is what the EPL is willing to offer financially and commercially.

[Mayor of ogba]

To buy a key player in any team in the Premier League you must be ready to pay around £80-100 million, and the player in question will likely agree to join a club with the highest bid so that he will be offer a lucrative deal, so I agree with you that players moving to another club in the Premier League isn't for career progression but for money, for instance, Manchester United would have signed Mateus Fernandes but since Mateus Fernandes noticed he will earn more money at Tottenham Hotspur than Manchester United he signed for Tottenham Hotspur without even considering what he could achieve with Manchester United in the future.

[Rruchi man]

What I see is that many players, just to play in the Premier League, are willing to join mid table or lower table sides; something that would be unthinkable in other leagues. It’s just like the NBA: a player isn’t interested in joining the Nuggets rather than the Golden State Warriors or the Mavericks; the important thing is to play in the NBA.

What do you think?

You're not wrong in your observation, and I think we have two basic reasons for this.

a) The Premier League is the most competitive league in the world, and these players understand that with any team they move to, there is still the potential to win a trophy, even possibly the Premier League title. This is why some of them are comfortable with moving even to teams that are considered mid-table teams.

b) Another reason I think is that some of these footballers already have their families settled into life in England, and because they do not want to continue moving around from one place to another, so it does not affect their family, they just choose to accept another contract in another team still in the Premier League just so their family can remain in England.

[Italian Panic]

a) The Premier League is the most competitive league in the world, and these players understand that with any team they move to, there is still the potential to win a trophy, even possibly the Premier League title. This is why some of them are comfortable with moving even to teams that are considered mid-table teams.

Certainly, and it’s also a question of money, because Premier League teams are the richest in Europe. Sometimes it seems that playing for a Premier League team is also a golden ticket to playing for the national team. No national team would leave out a player who plays in England, because that means he plays in the best league in Europe.
That said, credit must be given to those who organise English football, as they have been very forward thinking, particularly with regard to the academy system they have set up, unlike many other European countries.

[Lida93]

What do you think?

What I see here is just a matter of mediocrity on the side of this generation of players, there was a time in football when playing in the UCL or winning the UCL was the main ambition of every player, I remember a time when Arjen Robben would threaten his Bayern Munich side  that he might leave the club if they fail to secure a place in the UCL because he didn't like the idea of playing in the UEFA cup which was the second tier competition in Europe back then. But all that do  not matter anymore these days as long as a player has a good contract and is playing in the EPL, I think the standards has really reduced drastically.

[Sunshine1525]

I don't see your statement as provocative but accurate back then players work hard to play in the best teams, for instance Cristiano Ronaldo moving from Sporting Lisbon to Manchester United, Bale moving from Tottenham to Real Madrid, players barely move to a mid team at the peak of their career, but then things changed and it's a normal situation no matter how weird it may seem cause change is constant and everyone has adapt to the trend.

The Premier League developed to being one of the best in terms of exposure so players don't mind remaining there even though it means remaining in a mid team. You can see how competitive the league is, many players love where the competition is tougher and since sme mid reams can afford paying them good salaries they don't mind playing for them.