Transfer Fees.

[C-man]

Bit of a non-important discussion type thread here - I was just wondering what people's thoughts on the ever increasing transfer fees/wage demands etc are.

Clearly this is not a new thing and I know there have been other years where the transfer market has ballooned, ie 2003 (Damien Duff to Chelsea for £17m) being a fine example, and usually this occurs when one club starts the ball rolling by spending ludicrous amounts - just as Chelsea did when Abramovich first took over.

But I just get the feeling that this summer is going to be the one that shocks everyone the most. Already we've had/are having two world record transfer fees and its not the end of June yet.

Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid for £80m

Kaka to Real Madrid for £56m

Obviously these are two of the best five players in the world (in my opinion) and perhaps that is the price that they are actually worth to Real Madrid, but the following two deals, completed over the last week or two have really shocked me.

Roque Santa Cruz to Man City for £18m

Glen Johnson to Liverpool for £17.5m

Santa Cruz is a good player and was bought from Bayern for £3.5m, but in paying £18m for a player who scored only 4 Premier League goals last season, Man City are in real danger of over-inflating the transfer market (admittedly, like they care).

Rafa Benitez made an interesting point today in pretty much saying that English players are more expensive, but are they really that much more worth it? Alvaro Arbeloa, who is estimated to be worth around £8m is not half the player Glen Johnson is despite what the transfer fee might suggest.

Another couple of features of this summer is that big money is being banded about for top young managers (Steve Bruce and Roberto Martinez have gone for a combined fee of over £5m) and clubs are slapping silly price tags on players (Cardiff City want £5m for Roger Johnson and Man City want £10m from Chelsea for Daniel Sturridge).

My point (I think ) is this, is it time for UEFA/FIFA to act on transfer fees? What can be done to safeguard teams that lose their best players for a pittance yet others can demand outrageous fees for theirs?

[Koke]

A player is worth that the other club is willing to pay for. Unlike American sports, we have no wage cap, no salary cap, no nothing - it's a free market. We buy players, and we hope to sell them on and make a profit. That's how we operate, that's how most clubs in this country survive, apart from the 2 or 3 elite clubs.

If UEFA/FIFA suddenly decide to pull the plug and start regulating transfer fees, then it's actually clubs like us and Blackburn who will get hit the hardest, not the top elite clubs. I'm actually happy that Blackburn got £18m for Santa Cruz and Portsmouth got £17m for Johnson - that's how those clubs survive, by making big profit on their stars. On a smaller scale, Swindon are holding us to ransom and demanding £2-3m for Simon Cox, it's a fair game, we would do the same if Villa or Everton came in for Joe Mattock. That's how the footballing structure work in this country, and all over Europe.

I understand people's concern cos an awful lot of money is exchanging hands these days but if Manchester City wants to spend X amount of money, then so be it. It's their money. They're not spending the tax payers money.

That's a pretty constructive post for my own standards at this time of the night.

[shen]

I understand people's concern cos an awful lot of money is exchanging hands these days but if Manchester City wants to spend X amount of money, then so be it. It's their money. They're not spending the tax payers money.

No, but as if football didn't already take the piss, these world records and ridiculous transfer fees are happening in the middle of a economic downturn. If Man City would e.g. invest just £1 mil of those fees in the city of Manchester itself, I'm sure people would sympathise with them... but clubs breaking fee records when people all around are losing their jobs just serves to highlight the tragic state of football once again.

[Sly]

Like all things, money makes the world go round. If people are spending in any industry, they will impact on other industries.

Example.

If Man City were to sign Messi

1. This would generate shirt sales with his name on.

2. More shirt sales requires more shirts to be produced in a factory in the middle of nowhere.

3. The workers in the factory in the middle of nowhere get paid, instead of being made redundant and also get potential bonuses.

4. The workers then spend this money, further circulating cash around the economy.

5. The companies where the workers spent their money also remian in a job .... and so on .. and so on

At the end of the day, for FIFA/UEFA to cap transfer fees would be madness.

English players are more expensive becuase of the Champions League rules. That's why the transfer fee is over inflated.

[ozleicester]

Beware the "Salary Cap"

The salary capo and the associated "draft" ruins the competition, it ceases to be sport and becomes entertainment.

Aussie Rules has a draft and cap, effectively where you finish the year before allows you first choice of the available players.

e.g.

finish bottom...first choice at best player

2nd bottom....2nd choice

etc etc.

all that happens is the competition is equalised and evceryone should get their chance to win the league..if the finish in the bottom 3-4 for a few years they pick up the best players and are ready to win the league 5-6 years later.

This of course doesnt allow for a promotion/relegation system so you can forget that idea too.

The draft and salary cap are an evil that further ruins the true competitive nature of sport.

[Granno]

£15m for Lescott. Good defender, but insanely overpriced.

[MarkDeVries]

Bit of a non-important discussion type thread here - I was just wondering what people's thoughts on the ever increasing transfer fees/wage demands etc are.

Clearly this is not a new thing and I know there have been other years where the transfer market has ballooned, ie 2003 (Damien Duff to Chelsea for £17m) being a fine example, and usually this occurs when one club starts the ball rolling by spending ludicrous amounts - just as Chelsea did when Abramovich first took over.

But I just get the feeling that this summer is going to be the one that shocks everyone the most. Already we've had/are having two world record transfer fees and its not the end of June yet.

Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid for £80m

Kaka to Real Madrid for £56m

Obviously these are two of the best five players in the world (in my opinion) and perhaps that is the price that they are actually worth to Real Madrid, but the following two deals, completed over the last week or two have really shocked me.

Roque Santa Cruz to Man City for £18m

Glen Johnson to Liverpool for £17.5m

Santa Cruz is a good player and was bought from Bayern for £3.5m, but in paying £18m for a player who scored only 4 Premier League goals last season, Man City are in real danger of over-inflating the transfer market (admittedly, like they care).

Rafa Benitez made an interesting point today in pretty much saying that English players are more expensive, but are they really that much more worth it? Alvaro Arbeloa, who is estimated to be worth around £8m is not half the player Glen Johnson is despite what the transfer fee might suggest.

Another couple of features of this summer is that big money is being banded about for top young managers (Steve Bruce and Roberto Martinez have gone for a combined fee of over £5m) and clubs are slapping silly price tags on players (Cardiff City want £5m for Roger Johnson and Man City want £10m from Chelsea for Daniel Sturridge).

My point (I think ) is this, is it time for UEFA/FIFA to act on transfer fees? What can be done to safeguard teams that lose their best players for a pittance yet others can demand outrageous fees for theirs?

This is good thread firstly.

I believe that in order for football to avoid being ruined further, wage and transfer caps need to be introduced. Everything is becoming pathetic in football, eventually, slide tackles probably won't happen (okay maybe I exaggerated a little). Clubs in the premier league will go bust when the big money investors pull the oney out and it will become survival of the fittest.

[shen]

At the end of the day, for FIFA/UEFA to cap transfer fees would be madness.

I'm guessing they could make the cap on wage budgets stricter (e.g. a lower maximum percentage of the clubs total turnover) to stop clubs overspending or something...

[Sly]

I'm guessing they could make the cap on wage budgets stricter (e.g. a lower maximum percentage of the clubs total turnover) to stop clubs overspending or something...

Maybe ... but how would they police it. It's just an extra burden and opens a much larger can orf worms. What they don't pay them in wages, they'll lavish in expenses and bonus payments.

Football is no longer a sport or a form of entertainment, it's a business and a big business at that, whether we like it or not. To change the rullings now would cause a massive uproar.

Personally I don't agree with the docking teams points that go into admin either though. It'll turn like Formula 1 if we aren't careful and we'll end up having break away leagues!!

[James.]

Football is in a bubble just like the housing market was and the dotcom companies were before that. If the regulations don't change then the bubble will probably burst and the fall out will be pretty horrible.

There's obviously no easy solution but I do worry that not doing anything could have much worse implications than introducing something like salary caps, etc.

It's pretty clear to see that the free markets that some posters seem intent on preserving need some guidance and at the minute I don't think that guidance is strong enough.

[davieG]

Getting clubs to live within their means, not to be allowed to operate solely on loans etc. would be a start.

[C-man]

Getting clubs to live within their means, not to be allowed to operate solely on loans etc. would be a start.

This is definitely a vital discussion point for UEFA/FIFA. They must be thinking about it, and if it was Manchester City or Chelsea who had spent £136 million on two players it would be right at the forefront of their meetings in Portugal, the Carribean, Maldives or where ever else they choose to be pampered for doing fuck all constructive.