It's becoming more and more evident that the powers that be across the stable of owners in the Premier League are in it from a pure business perspective rather than for the love of football, the club itself, the quest for success, or, even the fans.
Tottenham are possibly the biggest culprits, doing just enough every year to remain in the top six, but never really pushing the transfer envelope to take them to the next level.
Neighbours Arsenal are in a similar boat and with Chairman Stan Kroenke taking majority ownership (after buying out Uzbek tycoon Alisher Usmanov last year) it’s unlikely we’ll see "marquee" signings at the Emirates in the near future.
This was illustrated recently with bulking at Palace’s valuation of Wilfried Zaha.
Of course it’s how it should be across at the Emirates, buying no-name Frenchman and moulding them into world-class stars, as did Arsene Wenger over the years.
But in today’s game, at the top end, a new Mesut Ozil or Alexandre Lacazette, or three, are definitely needed.
Manchester United are in a weird predicament, as they NEED to be challenging for the title to maintain their status, but have the Glazers fleecing the club of profits at £800m to date.
However, with CEO Ed Woodward, doing a great job in commercialising the club, funds are still available to rebuild the squad season after season as the managerial and transfer flops continue.
MAKING PROFIT: United big cheese Malcolm Glazer. Photo: J. Scott Applewhite/AP.
At some stage soon though, United will need to catch up with the distant top two as foreign fan uptake and revenue, along with sponsorship deals, start to decline.
Manchester City, of course, through manipulation of turnover in relation to Uefa's Financial Fair Play rules, are spending and will continue to spend, with a second XI who’d probably hit a top-four finish!
There seems to be no stopping them unless the Scousers start getting a little busier adding some quality depth.
Despite Liverpool’s owners, Fenway Sports Group, having similarities to United and Arsenal in that they also own American sports teams, there seems to be a big difference in the way they conduct business.
Of course, they are in it to add a profitable entity to their portfolio, but the relationship between owner, coach and fans is much more conducive to creating a workable, successful partnership.
The astute signing of Virgil Van Dijk and the one-step-at-a-time rebuilding of Anfield to increase capacity, revenue and atmosphere has worked wonders.
SELLING STARS: Chelsea's owner Roman Abramovich. Photo: Olivia Harris/Reuters.
Then there’s Chelsea!
Well, is Roman Abramovich in it for the money?
The crazy hire, fire and buy policy has been offset by huge revenue generated by player sales - £113m in 2018 was the most in the Premier League.
The success has come with it too and the fans have generally been happy with it.
I’ll end with Newcastle.
My god, did they just do that? Appointing Steve Bruce after letting Rafa Benitez go?
If ever there was a sign that an owner was content with TV money, that has to be it.
I feel sorry for the fans, but I hope the move backfires and Mike Ashley is kicked out on his purse.
Countdown to kickoff only 17 days! Chat soon.