The Premier League is considered to be the best in the world but is it really fair to have such a title when it has been eight years since a premier league player has won the Ballon D'or, and four years since a premier league team has won the champions league. The Premier League is most definitely the most competitive of the top divisions but I think it doesn't necessarily deserve the title of the best.
Chelsea's 2012 Champions League victory was the last European triumph and since then, the gulf of quality seems to have increased incredibly between the top English teams and the best from the rest of Europe. The main German and Spanish teams are leading the way as the best in Europe now and you can even say that the Italian and even French teams are able to match the English. Since Chelsea won the trophy, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund, Atletico Madrid and Juventus have all reached a final and even in Europe's secondary competition, the Europa League, there have only been two English winners in the last fifteen years and since Chelsea won it in 2013, Sevilla have won it consecutively. After a lack of recent major successes in Europe, the premier league is in danger of losing its fourth champions league spot to the Italian Serie A. If this does happen, it will be impossible to judge them as the best.
The premier league has some very good players but the great players, the best in the world are all playing elsewhere in Europe. The top five most expensive signings have all joined Real Madrid or Barcelona. Bale, Ronaldo, James Rodriguez, Neymar and Suarez are the most expensive players in the world and also the most expensive in history. Another key fact is that three of these players, Ronaldo, Bale and Suarez, all left premier league teams to join la liga and all within the last six seasons. If the premier league wants to be considered the best, it cannot lose its best players to the Spanish giants. It needs to convince players that playing in England is the top level. It needs to convince them that playing in Spain is not a step up in their careers. However, at this moment in time, most players see Real Madrid and Barcelona as the ultimate clubs in world football with once in a lifetime opportunities.
As I mentioned before, the last premier league Ballon D'or winner was Cristiano Ronaldo back in 2008 and since then, there hasn't been a single premier league player in the final three for the Ballon D'or. The UEFA team of the year is another sign of who the best players are and the 2015 team of the year didn't have a single premier league player. To add to this, the last five team of the years have featured only three. Bale, Ozil and Di Maria were all playing for premier league teams when picked for the team of the year and Bale and Di Maria have both since left. This lack of established world class player is worrying and it also links in to the Spanish teams spending the most on the most expensive players. If you want to have the best players, you have to spend big on them. This could happen with the new TV deals that will make the premier league clubs the richest in the world but this won't matter if teams like Barcelona continue with their amazing dominance and success like they achieved in 2015. Winning La Liga, Copa del Rey, Champions League, FIFA Club World Cup and the UEFA Super Cup all in a calendar year. Why would a player want to leave a team in that sort of position.
One positive about the premier league is that it is definitely a very competitive and entertaining league with any of potentially six teams competing for the title and eight teams going for the top four positions. In comparison, Spain has Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid. Nobody else outside of these three can realistically win the title anytime soon. In Germany, Bayern Munich appear to be dominating as they are on their way to a fourth consecutive Bundesliga title and in France, PSG are currently twenty two points clear of Monaco as league leaders. Italy is becoming more competitive this season with the revival of Inter Milan under Mancini challenging Juventus after their four consecutive Serie A titles. This competitiveness in the premier league this season has a lot to do with the new money as lesser teams such as Stoke and Leicester are able to bring in a higher quality of player and therefore compete with the top teams. Surprises such as Chelsea's downfall enable the lesser clubs to believe they can compete at the top. Leicester are at the top of the table with Arsenal and Manchester City and there is actually a belief that they can qualify for the Champions League and even win the title.
With all that in mind, yes. You could say in terms of entertainment, the premier league is amazing. Possibly even the best because who doesn't want to see a team like Leicester go on and win the league. True underdogs are always fan favourites but it is also causing the top teams to miss out on competing for the top prize in world football. The UEFA Champions League. Therefore, for that reason, it is lacking behind a couple of its European rivals and cannot be talked about as the greatest league.
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