Premiership says so long to the buys of summer

With Chelsea still willing to splash the cash, Andrew Fifield explains why Jose Mourinho's latest imports will be a litmus test of his abilities

The British economy is slowing down, they say, and in no quarter is the down-turn more marked than the Premiership. The spending sprees of summers past have been replaced by parsimony and prudence - shoppers have scurried to the pound shops and bargain basements, ignoring the fancy stores brimming with luxury talent.

Not even the biggest shop window of them all, the World Cup, has tempted buyers to part with their hard-earned. At long last, clubs appear to have more sense than money.

It is a curious state of affairs, particularly in a tournament year. After the 2002 World Cup, Premiership managers attacked the shopping malls with more gusto than shoppers who queue overnight for the St Stephen's Day sales. Rio Ferdinand, Robbie Keane and Jay-Jay Okocha all secured high-profile transfers on the back of their performances in the Far East, while Liverpool spent €21 million on Senegal's Salif Diao and El-Hadji Diouf, only to find that their new recruits did not particularly fancy the Premiership hurly-burly.

Liverpool's travails made clubs wary of plundering the squads of one-tournament wonders, which partly explains why the top flight has not been swollen by new arrivals from Ghana, Ivory Coast or Mexico since Fabio Cannavaro hoisted the trophy in Berlin. Even the expected influx from Italy's scandal-ridden Serie A has failed to materialise.

It seems clubs are no longer willing to pay over the odds for players who are not guaranteed to adjust to the peculiar rigours of English football.

The ghosts of exorbitantly priced superstars such as Juan Sebastien Veron (€42 million), Sergei Rebrov (€15 million) and Winston Bogarde (€60,000 a week for two league starts in four years) still haunt Premiership boardrooms, to the extent that even the league's elite group are proving reluctant to take a chance. Some have swung to the other extreme: Aston Villa have yet to make a single summer signing, while Arsenal, Newcastle, Manchester United and Bolton have all added just one name to their squad lists.

The exception, as usual, is Chelsea, who have been playing by their own rules ever since Roman Abramovich first flashed that Sphinx-like smile at Stamford Bridge. Jose Mourinho has spent an eye-watering €24 million on the unproven Nigerian forward John Obi Mikel and, though Michael Ballack was a free agent, his reported €180,000-a-week wages scotch any notion of a bargain.

But it is the €45-million signing of Andriy Shevchenko from Milan that will send Chelsea's title challengers scampering behind the sofa. The Ukrainian has long been mooted as a predator who would feed ravenously on the Premiership's famously vulnerable defences, and his pace, poise and bullish stature make him a priceless asset.

However, the performances of Chelsea's newest galacticos will also be a litmus test for Mourinho's abilities.

For someone who probably goes to sleep on a bed of dossiers, his record in the transfer market has been surprisingly pock-marked: Mateja Kezman, Tiago, Jiri Jarosik and Asier del Horno all lasted just a solitary season before being sold at a significant loss. Others have arrived amid much fanfare, only for the trumpets to quickly fall silent. Shaun Wright-Phillips, Michael Essien and Didier Drogba - signed at a combined cost of €100 million - have failed to justify even a fraction of their bloated transfer fees.

But Mourinho is not the sort of character to be cowed by past disappointments, and his acquisitions this summer have seriously upped the ante.

Ballack and Shevchenko are world-class performers used to having sides built around them, and it remains to be seen how they can be integrated into a team that already has Frank Lampard and John Terry as its talismans. Egos will be bruised and Chelsea's famed group dynamic could be fatally undermined.

"It's not easy coaching so many top players," admitted Mourinho. "I can't say that every player is happy, because at the end of the season we have players who want to leave. They don't want to leave to go to a better club; they want to leave because they want to be more happy in football and that means playing more. It's impossible to keep everyone happy but it's a different kind of mission, a new life challenge."

The challenge for the pretenders to Chelsea's crown is likely to be as onerous as ever, especially as none have - to date at least - notably added to the squads that fell so far short last season.

Manchester United have endured the most barren summer, losing their arch goal-poacher Ruud van Nistelrooy to Real Madrid, while adding just Michael Carrick so far. The England midfielder is burdened not just with the weight of his astronomical €27.3-million transfer fee but also with the expectations of supporters yearning for someone - anyone - to replace the much-lamented Roy Keane. Many have tried - Veron, Eric Djemba-Djemba, Kleberson and Liam Miller, to name but four; all have failed.

"You could say we'd need to replace Roy Keane with four players," admitted Alex Ferguson. "We've been trying for years, just as we tried to with Bryan Robson, and we don't see any new Roy Keanes. But we do recognise Michael's ability and that's why we've bought him."

Arsenal, too, have been quiet to the point of catatonic. Tomas Rosicky has arrived, a cultured playmaker in the Bergkamp mould, but arguably their most important signing came at the end of last season when Thierry Henry finally swatted away Barcelona and penned a new four-year contract.

Liverpool will also have been cheered by keeping Steven Gerrard and Xabi Alonso, and Rafael Benitez's team should have more edge from the spiky Craig Bellamy and quicksilver Jermaine Pennant, even if both have yet to prove they belong on the elite stage. Tottenham, too, will be more potent having recruited the burly Dimiter Berbatov from Bayer Leverkusen.

Yet all these new arrivals appear trifling in the face of Chelsea's glittering recruits. From Anfield to Islington, the suspicion is growing that Mourinho's Premiership rivals are already losing their game of catch-up.

Big Money Transfer Flops:

Sergei Rebrov €15m

The Ukraine striker was one of Europe's most coveted talents when Tottenham signed him for 15 million in 2000, but he utterly failed to adjust to Premiership football. He made just 37 appearances in three years and then endured another wretched spell with West Ham before returning to his creature comforts at Dynamo Kiev.

Juan Sebastien Veron €42m

Alex Ferguson believed he had signed one of the best midfielders in the world when Veron arrived at Manchester United in 2001. His transfer fee - €42 million - reflected that status; his performances did not. A poor two-year spell with United ended with an equally disastrous move to Chelsea and he now plays in his native Argentina.

Bosko Balaban €9m

"It's incredible that we've spent €9 million on a player and it's taken him eight months to complete 90 minutes - and that's in the reserves," said Graham Taylor, the Aston Villa manager who inherited the elusive Balaban from John Gregory. The Croatian striker made eight appearances in two years for Villa and failed to score.

Finidi George €4.5m

Ipswich discarded their home-grown transfer policy when they signed George for €4.5 million and handed him 30,000 a week. The Nigerian was a genuine world star thanks to his performances with Real Betis, but he appeared more interested in adding to his bank balance than his medal collection in a mediocre two-year spell.

Ade Akinbiyi €21m

Akinbiyi has accrued an astonishing €21 million in transfer fees during his career, and a third of that was splashed out by Leicester City as they attempted to consolidate their position in the Premiership's top six in 2000. It failed - after scoring 13 goals in 67 games, he was sold to Crystal Palace. Leicester were relegated three months later.

Francis Jeffers €12m

Arsene Wenger was convinced he had signed a much-needed "fox in the box" when he spent €12 million on Jeffers in 2001. Instead, the Liverpudlian proved that even the best can get their transfers horribly wrong. Jeffers made four Premiership starts in three years before leaving in 2004. His career is yet to recover.