Legendary Manchester United and England international, Gary Bailey has said it will take an unprecedented injection of funds to shape African leagues to the pedigree of giant leagues like the English premiership. Gary who played 373 matches for Manchester United during which he won two FA Cup medals, 1983 and 1985 told Myjoyonline.com in an interview that, it takes a lot of money to have a big league like the English premiership and also make it popular. According to him African clubs do not have the money to pay its players like what their European counterparts are paying, adding, “look at what the clubs in England are paying for players.” This he said is due to the fact that, “Europe has the most money” and also, “it has the big television deals so if you play with an European club you are on TV and everybody can see you.” Gary who went to 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico for England was however of the view that Africa can immensely benefit from European clubs and leagues by exporting talents at a younger age. These talents, he said, can come back as world stars like Michael Essien and Didier Drogba to help Africa win the World Cup. “You can’t win a World Cup with half oversees players and half local players,” he stressed adding, “we can benefit from Europe if we send more players and have more of them playing at the top level because we cannot compete in terms of money.” He was of the view that, African leagues can only get a face-lift if sponsors and huge investments come on board to get better coaches, infrastructure and good TV deals.