London has its Olympics logo and perhaps English football should have one of its own, in the shape of the Hampton Court maze. Hope springs eternal with each new season, but this time the sense of expectation is mitigated by the game’s feeble inability to penetrate the labyrinth the money men have created to camouflage their depredations.

The summer has been dominated by the Carlos Tevez saga and its implications for West Ham and Sheffield United; the Stevens Report into corruption in the transfer market; and Ken Bates’s machinations at Leeds United. This time it is not the usual silly-season stuff. It is a trite oversimplification to suggest, as some do, that Joe Public doesn’t give a toss about such things, as long as his team wins. For all bar the neanderthals, there is an increasing perception that for its principals, professional football is more of a get-rich-quick business than a sport these days – certainly at top level – and that my colleague Brian Glanville was spot on when, at its inception, he christened the Premier League the “Greed Is Good League”. Are the uneasy among us right to be concerned? You bet we are.

The Tevez affair still casts a pall months after he saved West Ham from relegation. Under Premier League rules, West Ham fielded an ineligible player to stay up. Given the circumstances and consequences, that they should be fined and not deducted points was a shameless cop-out (at least one of those responsible prefers the word expedient).

It is not the first example and it won’t be the last. There are obscene amounts of money sloshing around football these days, money means power, and the Premier League and the Football Association are wary (make that scared) of getting taken to court, and thence to the cleaners, by rich-as-Croesus club owners. Given the governing bodies’ pusillanimous attitude, further exemplified by their procrastination over the transfer “bungs” investigation, how are the Augean stables to be cleansed? A start, proposed in these columns a decade ago, would be to have all transfer monies paid into a central clearing house – say, the Premier League – to be distributed strictly according to regulations. Any other payments would be illicit, to be punished as such.

Which brings me to a pet hate. Why are so many transfers for “undisclosed” fees? What is there to hide? More transparency would put an end to a lot of nudging and winking. The governance of football needs to be stronger, more pro-active, and it is to be hoped that the Burns Review, which first addressed the issue two years ago, does more than gather dust.

The feeling that all is not well extends on to the playing field, where it cannot be good for the future of English football, and in particular the England team, that 40% of the players who appeared in the Premier League last season were foreign. The most disturbing reason for this was articulated in midweek by Sir Trevor Brooking, the FA’s director of football development, who said the academy system, designed to foster local talent, was failing. English school-leavers were not good enough, and even the elite were having to look abroad for decent 15-year-olds, as well as top stars.

Lower down the ladder, it is often the case that imports are not better, just cheaper, but it is a sad fact that Manchester United and Liverpool, whose youth systems were deemed exemplary, are no longer bringing through alumni such as Beckham, Scholes, Giggs and the Neville brothers, or Gerrard, Carragher, Murphy and Matteo. Wannabe footballers still abound, so is youth scouting and coaching not what it was? Answers on a postcard to Soho Square.

Putting a more positive head on, as Glenn Hoddle used to say, the takeover of half the Premier League clubs by foreign magnates has not been the cataclysm forecast by those same Jonahs who told us that the Bosman ruling a decade ago heralded the collapse of the transfer market. Fans of Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Portsmouth, Manchester City, West Ham et al can have no complaints about the funds made available by their new proprietors. On the contrary, after their summer splurges, the clubs can afford it, of course.

The Premier League will turn over £900m this season, and confidently expects to break the £1bn barrier next year, so they must be doing something right, and it is not just making money. Because of its entertainment value, the Premier League roadshow is the envy of the world (which is not to say it is technically the best in the world, witness the clubs’ lack of success in the European Cup) and the competition should be even more intense this season.

Just as Chelsea administered a much-needed shot in the arm by breaking the Manchester United-Arsenal duopoly in 2004-5, so United did much the same last season by proving that not even Roman Abramovich’s largesse could guarantee perennial domination. This time there is a widespread feeling that it could be more than a two-horse race, with Liverpool, Arsenal and possibly Tottenham equipped to last the distance.

United played some lovely stuff last season, in the club’s best attacking traditions. They were worthy champions, so logic suggests they should again emerge triumphant. But close examination offers some comfort for their rivals.

Good though he is, can Cristiano Ronaldo repeat the annus mirabilis that brought him 17 league goals from the wing? If not, United could suffer for the lack of a 20-goals-a-season striker. Wayne Rooney has many attributes but he is not prolific, and even though the tedious pursuit of Tevez is at last approaching a successful conclusion, United will still lack an orthodox centre-forward to lead the attack. Doubtless Sir Alex Ferguson would reply that it doesn’t matter who scores the goals as long as somebody does, and that he would be perfectly happy if sufficient were spread around again.

Chelsea, dethroned last season, ought to be better this time. It is easily forgotten that they were title favourites until injury cost them Petr Cech and John Terry for so long, that Ashley Cole and Joe Cole were never fully fit, and that Michael Ballack and Andriy Shevchenko were taking the season most foreigners need to adapt to English football. Jose Mourinho’s mistake in selling William Gallas and Robert Huth and not replacing them was a costly one, condemning his best midfielder, Michael Essien, to fish-out-of-water service in central defence. That situation was remedied with the acquisition of Tal Ben Haim from Bolton, and France’s Florent Malouda looks a good replacement for the walking whine that is Arjen Robben. Provided Didier Drogba stays fit, Chelsea’s all-round strength should give them the edge.

There are two managers who need an improvement more than the rest. Liverpool’s Rafael Benitez and Martin Jol at Tottenham have spent megabucks, even by contemporary standards, these past three years, and, even allowing for Benitez’s achievements in Europe, the job security of both demands something better than third and fifth place respectively. Liverpool, who have not won the league since 1990, ought to be stronger after signing Ryan Babel, Fernando Torres and Andriy Voronin, but newcomers from foreign climes take time to settle, and it could be a year before Benitez gains maximum benefit. Does he have the time? The hugely influential chief executive, Rick Parry, is staunch and, of the two, Jol is in greater jeopardy.

Murmurs of discontent leaked from White Hart Lane in February, with Tottenham in the bottom half of the table, and a Champions League place is the minimum requirement this time after expenditure on Darren Bent, Gareth Bale and Kevin-Prince Boateng. To get where they want to go, Tottenham need to finish above Arsenal, who have the look of a team in transition. Champions in 2004, they have since lost Lauren, Ashley Cole, Sol Campbell, Martin Keown, Patrick Vieira, Ray Parlour, Edu, Robert Pires, Sylvain Wiltord, Dennis Bergkamp, Freddie Ljungberg, Kanu, Jose Antonio Reyes and Thierry Henry, and their young replacements are not of the same calibre.

The rest will be either making up the numbers or battling relegation. For the uncommitted, interest here will focus on “big name” managers, such as Sam Allardyce, Sven-Göran Eriksson and Roy Keane. Allardyce is too good not to awake that most soporific of giants that is Newcastle, but Eriksson’s recruitment of so many obscure foreigners does not augur well for Manchester City. Keane’s renowned motivational powers will be tested to the full by the task of keeping Sunderland up. Dark horses for a good season? West Ham. Eat your heart out, Sheffield United.