Barcelona vice-president Ferran Soriano says England's Premiership is twice the size of their nearest competitors.

"The fact is the Premier League is the biggest league in the world. It is not just bigger than others, it is double the size, if you look at the figures," said Soriano.

"The Premier League gets £2.7 billion (from television) and the others - Germany, Italy, Spain and France - range between £1 billion to £1.5 billion. And that's fair. The Premier League is the best managed league, not just for domestic markets but its overseas markets."

He continued: "If you ask who the top three clubs in the world are, two come from Spain and one from England. Barcelona and Real Madrid are level with Manchester United so it doesn't mean there's a direct relationship between league power and the transfer market.

"But 80% of the Spanish television market is Real and Barca so even English clubs such as Newcastle have more spending power than the third club in Spain. Even then, I don't think it's always true England is the first choice for all star players. Some come to Spain for other factors, such as the lifestyle."