Can you always buy success on the football field?

Some say Jose Mourinho has bought success

Money talks so they say and in the world of football it seems to be even more true, but does it guarantee success? Alex Johnson investigates.

The likes of Chelsea and Manchester City have come in for some criticism for their approach to spending in recent years, while Manchester United's dominance before them was partially founded on the ability to smash the British transfer record on several occasions.

So a first look at the issue suggests that money can buy you success, but of course there is more to the matter than first meets the eye.

On top of the money you need the right manager and you need to invest in the right players and that is not as easy as you might think.

United found the perfect man in Sir Alex Ferguson to use the cash they generated during the last 20-odd years, with the Scot shrewd enough to find the right player most of the time, forgetting the likes of Kleberson and Eric Djemba-Djemba just for a moment.

Likewise Chelsea brought in Jose Mourinho, who quickly moulded a side which would go on to justify the huge outlay of Russian owner Roman Abramovich, before the Portuguese departed the scene to show that money is not the only thing needed for success.

City have gone down a slightly different route, with managers coming and going, but the sheer amount of money spent by their owners has made domestic success almost a given.

However, the Citizens have yet to make a major impact in the Champions League and that fact highlights the need for both time and expertise for the money to be made to count.

Eventually the investment will pay off and City will make it through to the latter stages of the competition, just as Paris Saint-Germain, who are also backed by mega-money from the Middle East, are starting to do.

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On a more mundane domestic level, plenty of clubs have tried to throw money at the problem of success and most have met with little or no success.

Remember Rushden & Diamonds, a distant memory of a club who once dreamt to making it towards the top rank of English football.

More recently both Fleetwood Town and Crawley Town have emerged from the realms of non-league obscurity to take on Football League status, but, having reached League One, they are now finding that things are not quite so easy and a 2,500-ish fanbase can only take you so far, whatever the level of investment from ambitious owners.

It will be interesting to see how far Salford City can make it, having been taken on as a pet project by the Manchester United class of 92 while residing in the Northern Premier League.

Away from England the idea of money=success is a little harder to put your finger on, with most European league dominated by the traditional powerhouses, who also have access to the most money and the pick of the players.

Russian football does provide some evidence of cash for glory paying off, with Zenit St Petersburg having claimed the tile in three of the last seven completed seasons.

They also won the UEFA Cup in 2008, but they have yet to make a major mark in the Champions League, so once again there is the impression that money can only take you so far.

After that you need the right mix of top players and top managers to enjoy success and sustain it for any period of time - that has always been the case and no amount of money it seems is going to change that fact.