Money speaks loud in language everyone understands

Since the unruly inter-village pastime we know as football was first codified in 1992, just two clubs have triumphed in the English Premier League without gorging on the no-strings financial generosity of a benefactor.

Little wonder the pair this week provided the loudest voices clamouring for an English equivalent of UEFA’s rather oddly named ‘Financial Fair Play’ scheme.

UEFA’s plans — which will never work, of course, since there is no known way of detaining a rich man from what he wants — would tie clubs’ spending to their natural earning power.