da mrbet： It's been an incredible campaign for state-sponsored clubs, but Chelsea did prove that money doesn't always guarantee success…

da bwin： On Sunday evening, the Premier League season came to a close. It was a wildly unpredictable campaign at times, with Arsenal emerging as a surprise contender to win the title, and yet, in the end, Manchester City finished top of the pile. Again.

Pep Guardiola's magnificent squad of superstars played some beautiful football, creating goal after goal for the unstoppable Erling Haaland, but their third title in a row will have yet another asterisk placed beside it, with the club having been charged with more than 100 alleged breaches of the Premier League's financial regulations.

Elsewhere, Newcastle underlined the growing influence of Middle Eastern money on English football by securing a return to the Champions League, as did Manchester United, who appear to be finally moving in the right direction again thanks to Erik ten Hag.

Somewhat unbelievably, Liverpool went from challenging for a quadruple last year to winning nothing at all, while Chelsea finished in the bottom half despite spending more than £500 million on new signings. But Brighton were arguably the story of the season, with Roberto De Zerbi silencing the skeptics by leading the Seagulls into Europe for the first time in their history.

Sadly, though, another touching tale of over-achievement has come to an end, with Leicester, the club that stunned the football world by winning the title in 2016, being relegated alongside Leeds and Southampton.

GOAL runs through the biggest winners and losers from the 2022-23 Premier League season…

Getty ImagesLOSER: Todd Boehly

Ah, Todd Boehly, not just loser – but biggest loser of the season. Chelsea were a joke, with a gargantuan group of high-profile players providing a pitiful return on the simply staggering amount of money invested in them. Three different coaches failed to get the very best out of them as they ended up finishing 12th and, let's face it, the buck stops with Boehly and the board.

They were responsible for the club's clueless approach to squad-building and the ridiculous decision to sack Thomas Tuchel just six games into the season. Then, after putting their faith in a long-term project with Graham Potter, they made the absolutely absurd decision to replace him with Frank Lampard for the final two months of the campaign, only cementing the perception that the new owners have "no idea about football".

It was pure farce, as probably best summed up by the sorry sight of Thiago Silva lamenting the fact that they had so many players the club had to enlarge the dressing room. Cancelling their end-of-season awards ceremony for fear of upsetting the already furious fans was probably the one correct call the club made this season.

But, in a way, we neutrals should be thankful to Boehly – and not just for all the amusing mishaps and memes, or the utterly compelling tragi-comic nature of their campaign in general. No, in this modern era of gross financial inequality, it was genuinely heartening to see that money doesn't always guarantee success.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesWINNER: State-owned clubs

What a season for the Middle East! First came the World Cup in Qatar, slap bang in the middle of the club campaign, and then Abu Dhabi-backed Manchester City winning another Premier League title, with Saudi Arabia-owned Newcastle finishing fourth to get themselves back into the Champions League for the first time in 20 years. It really is remarkable what oil money can do for a club!

Of course, superstar-obsessed Paris Saint-Germain continue to provide ample proof that a club still needs to be well-run in order to make the absolute most of a limitless supply of cash. But while City and Newcastle may be at different stages of their development, both sets of owners clearly know what they're doing. They have a clear, coherent strategy in place and further success seems inevitable.

Indeed, do not be at all surprised if other clubs now start following their lead. There is, of course, still a very real chance of Qatari investors taking over at Old Trafford in the coming weeks, which really only serves to hammer home the point that football's future is highly likely to be dominated by a select few state-sponsored clubs.

So much for 'The Beautiful Game', eh?…

Getty ImagesLOSER: Arsenal

Arsenal as a loser – it feels harsh, borderline wrong, in truth. Mikel Arteta's exciting young side gave so much in pursuit of an impossible dream and provided Premier League followers with so many magical moments. Reiss Nelson's thunderbolt against Bournemouth, for example, will live long in the memory. It provoked pure bedlam at the Emirates.

However, there is no denying that when Arsenal's manager, players and supporters look back on their 2022-23 campaign, there will be tinges of regret. They didn't bottle the league, of course. They simply succumbed to the inevitable. No team can compete with City over the course of an entire season. They are just too powerful, on and off the field.

Still, while Arsenal were always going to be overhauled in the long run, the way in which they began to flag in the final stretch will remain a source of immense frustration for some time to come. There is no shame in being outclassed by City at the Etihad – a game which starkly illustrated the gulf in class and quality between the two squads.

However, they should have arrived in Manchester with a far bigger lead and left with their fate still in their own hands regardless of the result. Points were thrown away against Liverpool, West Ham and Southampton, with the latter draw effectively signalling the end of their heroic challenge.

Arsenal deserve credit for giving us a title race for such a long time but they'll know themselves that they had a glorious chance to keep the pressure on City right until the final day. The Gunners might well challenge again next season but so, too, should Liverpool, United, Newcastle and maybe even Chelsea under Mauricio Pochettino.

The sad truth is that such an opportunity may never come again for Arsenal, and that knowledge is what will hurt the most.

Getty ImagesWINNER: Erik ten Hag

Manchester United haven't always convinced this season, particularly away from home against anything resembling decent opposition. There have been some horrific capitulations, most notably against Liverpool and Sevilla. However, United are undeniably making progress under Erik ten Hag.

Indeed, it's worth remembering just how much pressure the manager was under after his reign began with back-to-back Premier League defeats, at home to Brighton and away to Brentford. The latter loss was particularly embarrassing, with Ten Hag being castigated for – among other things – bringing the diminutive Lisandro Martinez with him from Ajax.

However, both the defender and the Dutchman eventually proved their critics wrong. Ten Hag clearly still has a lot of work to do to get United challenging for a title, but he has already shown his ruthless side by effectively forcing Cristiano Ronaldo out of the club, and more deadweight is likely to be dumped overboard this summer.

He also deserves credit for inspiring the most prolific campaign of Marcus Rashford's career to date, addressing United's long overdue need for a dominant defensive midfielder by bringing in Casemiro (arguably the signing of the season) and going out of his way to give Jadon Sancho a shot at reviving his career.

Of course, a manager is ultimately judged on results and, for all of the heavy defeats here and there, he has just ended his first season in England with a trophy and a Champions League place. This is United, of course, so the scrutiny of his position won't stop until he wins a major honour, but Ten Hag's tenure has got off to a good – if topsy-turvy – start.