Aston Villa defender Carlos Cuellar is amazed at the money in the Premiership.

The 27-year-old Madrid-born told As: "It's not normal that a footballer triples his value after one good year. In England, situations that never happened before Abramovich and Arab sheiks arrived occur.

"It's not rational that here, in Spain or wherever, clubs are allowed to accumulate debts superior than €50 million (£45 million)."

Cuellar understands that the credit crunch has weakened The Premier League and that West Ham, Manchester United and Valencia have been the victims of the current bad economic climate.

He added: "West Ham have lost their sponsor [XL Holidays] and insurance company AIG have told Manchester United they will not continue their contract.

"For sure people in the streets are facing many problems. In Spain as well. And in terms of football teams, Valencia are struggling [to pay their players]. Seeing a club of that stature in such situation is incredible.

"But as I said before, nobody can accumulate debts forever, whether it's a company or a football club. A policy of extreme spending unchained all this: you can't live above your means."