The club proved the money wasn´t everything

The sports analyst and football intermediary Jozef Tokos for the Economic Daily:

The world is astonished by the sensational title of Leicester City in the Premier League. What is the main message of this mega success?

The main reasoning is that big money of the rich teams can guarantee a lot, but not entirely everything. It does not mean that Leicester City will be winning titles every year from now on. I find it positive. It disturbs the hegemony of the top clubs, for instance sheiks of Manchester City or the Russian billionaire Abramovich.

A club almost relegated last year from the elite Premier League is now celebrating its historic first triumph in England. How is that possible?

First of all, very good work of the manager Claudio Ranieri and the club´s scouting department is behind it. Not only  last year, but for several seasons. Buying players for one-two million, which is ten time less than the expenditures of the richest clubs for players, Leicester City was able not only to compete with them, but also prevail. Every player of the club is a hero now.

The manager of West Bromwich Tony Pulis says that such a Hollywood story of an outsider to become a champion is possible only in England. Do you agree?

Let us rephrase it: in Spain, say, it is trully impossible that an outsider like Granada or Rayo Vallecano outplays Real Madrid and Barcelona in a long competition. Therefore the sucess of Leicester City brings hopes for the smaller clubs. Almost everything is possible in football. On the other hand, there has not been any parallel to this story in the history of the club´s football at the highest level.

Will the club keep their players together or can we expect a sell-out in Leicester City?

It is a question of offer and demand. The club will make decisions. If there is a bid, say, for some 50 million pounds, it will be difficult for the decision makers within the club to resist. It happened in the past. For instance, Southampton has recently experienced sell-out of players. Tottenham kept repeating that Gareth Bale was unsaleable. Nevertheless, he is gone.