REVEALED: Big Six have spent £26BILLION on wages and transfers since the Premier League began - half of all other club's spending in almost three decades - but Leicester show that clever recruitment can still loosen Man City and Co's grip on the top fligh

Top-flight clubs have spent an astonishing £52billion in wages and transfer fees since the beginning of the Premier League, with the Big Six accounting for half of the eye-watering sum.

The numbers have been produced by football finance expert, Kieran Maguire, at the University of Liverpool, to demonstrate the stranglehold the most powerful clubs retain on English football.

While their recent plans to reorganise football for their own benefit may have been thwarted, Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham and Arsenal, remain firmly in control, says Maguire.

'Off the back of the European Super League and Project Big Picture will football return to an old romantic vision with the likes of Derby, Forest and Villa winning the title?