ONE of the major characteristics of any transfer window is head-spinning transfer fees slapped on players for different reasons such as position played (attackers are usually the most expensive), age (young players who have broken into lime light usually command bigger fees than veterans), nationality (now hugely important in the wake of UEFA’s home-grown players quota for clubs in continental competitions), hefty buy-out-clause (which itself is usually informed by a combination of some of the above-mentioned factors) among others.
There have been some jaw-dropping transfer fees in the past. But some of the prices clubs are bandying in this window are unreal: 50 million pounds for 20-year-old Raheem Sterling? I thought nobody would be stupid enough to meet Liverpool’s crazy valuation of the want-away winger; but Man City look set to meet that price after two previous attempts were sniffed at by the Reds. A princely 75 million quid for 22-year-old Paul Pogba even with his undoubted talent! Wait a minute: City (again?) are reportedly heading for Turin to shake hands with Juve for the midfielder’s signature…wow!
Tottenham’s Harry Kane is valued at 40 million pounds despite just breaking into the BPL last season. Lionel Messi reportedly has a buy-out clause of 250 million pounds. Sergio Ramos has been slapped 65 million Euro even at an advance age while a decent but certainly not world class Valencia defender Nicolas Otamendi has 35 million pounds on his head! Inter Milan’s young midfielder Mateo Kovacic is rated 30 million Euro!
Man United legend Rio Ferdinand recently described transfer fees on English players as “a joke!” I agree with him, even if I feel his own 30 million pounds move from Leeds United to Old Trafford was unreal at the time as well.
Considering these astonishing figures, I sometimes ask myself if they’re talking about money in a Monopoly Game. Truth is, and I’m going to shock you here, no player is worth more than a million quid in my opinion, not even Messi! And before you think I’m from another world, why not hear my reason:
I know you can build a team of 11 players with far less than 1 million quid. And unless Messi or any of these crazily over-priced players can single-handedly face and defeat my team of “11 paupers” in a 90-minute match would I revise my position on the insanity of the recent astronomical transfer fees.
In the light of the current very harsh global economic recession, recent football transfer fees are unreal, insane and belong in another very buoyant world with bottomless resources. Certainly not planet Earth. But who am I to judge?
Of course, I’m not oblivious of the many financial intrigues behind these deals, chief among which is hype (stylishly called packaging by perpetrators). The players are absolutely blameless in all this farce called transfer business. In fact I blame two parties: the clubs (buyers and sellers) and the oft faceless agents. Do you?
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