04. February 2010 In England, the winter was in football too chilly. During the transfer period which ended on Monday, were only 30 million pounds (35 million euros) for new players spent. A year ago there were 170 million. Some clubs had already prohibited any transfer activity. Thus, the damp cellar children of Portsmouth in the Premier League purchases were prohibited. The club has still not settled all obligations from previous transfers, dating back to 2007. The penultimate, Hull City, was ordained by accountants, at 16 million pounds of debt reduction. Is this just the tip of the iceberg - or the beginning of the sinking of the Titanic? David Sullivan, former owner of Birmingham

City, believes in the imminent collapse of a club in the Premier League. He has analyzed eight p.m. the first and second division clubs from the investor's point of view, and handed down a damning verdict: The financial position of English football was "frightening". Rows of clubs would have mortgaged future revenues from television rights and season tickets, often years in advance. However, the banks are taking something increasingly rare. The sale of Ronaldo to Madrid has purged some 80 million pounds in cash in Manchester Even the big clubs are economical than ever. Only one of the "Big Four" was Manchester United at the winter market is active. The master bought for 10.7 million pounds of the 20-year-old central defender Chris Smalling from Fulham. According to managing director David Gill, manager Alex Ferguson, despite the debts of 716 million pounds of the proceeds from the world-record transfer of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid (80 million pounds), putting in new players. But Ferguson says he will not, because of the "inflated" market for players - a statement which did not decrease any. For striking is that United, once a "big spender", since much of the debt-financed takeover by American Malcolm Glazer 2005, less spending for new professionals than the competition - an annual average of only around six million pounds net) (net of proceeds from sales .