It used to be very simple. Big players stayed at big clubs. Or they moved to other big clubs for lots of money.
But that was before the current cash crunch. And before clubs – whether by necessity or choice – started thinking outside the box, effectively destroying the market at the highest level.
Not convinced? Consider Chelsea, the club with the unlimited transfer budget. Jose Mourinho asked for three players in May: a left-back, a box-to-box midfielder and a prolific centre forward.
Pre-season has started and all he’s got so far is the left-back, Asier Del Horno, who incidentally was neither his first (Ashley Cole) nor second (Gianluca Zambrotta) choice. Apart from that all he got was a long series of resounding “nos”, over Adriano, Samuel Eto’o, Andriy Shevchenko and Steven Gerrard.
Manchester United were supposed to be rebuilding. What did they turn up? A Korean winger (Park Ji Sung) and a goalkeeper who turns 35 in October (Edwin Van der Sar). Hardly anything to write home about.
Liverpool? Well, they’ve certainly been active. They brought in four players and are close to securing Peter Crouch from Southampton and Luis Figo from Real Madrid. Except that apart from Figo and, arguably, goalkeeper Jose Reina, none of the new faces is likely to set pulses racing. Antonio Barragan is an 18-year-old right-back who might not start for years to come. Mark Gonzales spent half of last season sitting on the bench at Albacete in the Spanish second division. Boudewijn Zenden, while gifted, was a free transfer and appears destined to be a squad player. As for Crouch, well, sometimes it’s hard to figure out what Rafa Benitez is thinking.
The Gerrard situation did not help matters. But in a sense, it’s a fitting sign of the times. Perhaps it was all about money after all and he feels loved when he’s making £100,000 a week, less so at a mere £60,000. If that’s the case, he confirmed some of the worst stereotypes about greedy footballers. But it’s equally true that Liverpool had made serious contingency plans and were all too happy to shop him around. Part of the reason he stayed was the total lack of interest he generated from anyone other than Chelsea . The offers from the likes of AC Milan, Barcelona and Real Madrid simply never mater-ialised. And why would they? Milan’s eggs are all in one basket – Parma striker Alberto Gilardino – and Barcelona are tapped out, which is why they’ve made just one signing, and that was a Bosman (PSV’s Mark Van Bommel). As for Real Madrid, they’re having trouble meeting Santos’ demands for wonder kid Robinho – their bid is stuck at £11m, £7m short of the asking price and they won’t be buying unless they can move some of their top earners.
Yet perhaps the most surprising twist came out of Highbury. For three of the last four years Patrick Vieira had flirted with moves abroad, keeping manager Arsene Wenger and the Gunners faithful on tenterhooks. The shoe is now on the other foot. Vieira has been told in no uncertain terms that he is up for sale. Wenger’s sights are set on Lyon’s Mahamadou Diarra, a younger, cheaper and less tormented soul.
Arsenal seem to have decided that the time is ripe to cash in on their skipper, who is 29 and is coming off arguably his worst season at Highbury. That’s why they met Juventus’ emissaries on Wednesday. Juve, of course, are strapped for cash themselves, which is why they were only able to muster a bid of £6m plus midfielder Steven Appiah (generously valued by the bianconeri at £6m, for a total of £12m). Arsenal were hoping for something in the £18m to £20m range, cash only, but, again, it’s a sign of the times that they have scheduled further talks with Juve for Tuesday.
Vieira, like Gerrard at Liverpool, is a cornerstone of the side. Just six months ago it seemed unthinkable that Arsenal would happily listen to offers. But the harsh reality is that everyone is looking for a bargain these days. The £5m-a-year that the very top players command is becoming increasingly difficult to justify.
Last season proved that Vieira is not an ideal midfield partner for Cesc Fabregas. And, while he may be just 18, the Catalan playmaker is the future of Arsenal (not to mention the fact that he makes a 10th of what Vieira earns). All of a sudden, Arsenal figure that if they can get, say, even just £10m for Vieira, while saving themselves £10m in wages over the next two seasons, selling him would free up some £20m. And if you can get Diarra for £6m and pay him £2m-a-season in wages – which is realistic – Arsenal will have a ready-made replacement who is five years younger plus an extra £10m to play with.
This kind of logic is the same that prompted United to take the £100,000-a-week offer to Rio Ferdinand off the table. He was reportedly holding out for £120,000 a week, which would have made him the highest paid defender in the world. His deal expires in June 2007, but United know that time is on their side. If Ferdinand has the kind of lacklustre season he had last year, his demands will soften. Equally, nobody is beating a path to this door, partly because they know that he simply isn’t worth £5m a year, let alone £6m.
On balance, this kind of bean-counting is probably good for football. It is reversing the trend of spiralling wages . But, of course, it can be taken too far. Witness Inter Milan, a side not known for their transfer nous. They were due to pay Christian Vieri £9m in wages and guaranteed bonuses in the final year of his contract. They figured the 32-year-old’s skills were declining, despite scoring a respectable 12 goals in 19 starts in an injury-slowed campaign. Besides, they were keen to unleash the pairing of Adriano and Nigerian starlet Obafemi Martins. So they reached an agreement whereby they would pay him £7m in exchange for voiding the final year of his contract. That way, they saved themselves £2m.
Great thinking ... until they realised they had forgotten to get a pledge from Vieri not to join a competing Italian club. Which is exactly what he did. He signed for rivals AC Milan. What’s more, because he received a lump sum payment of £7m, he was happy to lower his wage demands to a more manageable £2.5m a year for two seasons.
In one fell swoop, Inter got nothing back for a player they spent £30m on six years ago, shelled out £7m for the priv-ilege of doing so and saw him join their fiercest rivals. As for Vieri, he doesn’t even need to move house.
Asset management
But that was before the current cash crunch. And before clubs – whether by necessity or choice – started thinking outside the box, effectively destroying the market at the highest level.
Not convinced? Consider Chelsea, the club with the unlimited transfer budget. Jose Mourinho asked for three players in May: a left-back, a box-to-box midfielder and a prolific centre forward.
Pre-season has started and all he’s got so far is the left-back, Asier Del Horno, who incidentally was neither his first (Ashley Cole) nor second (Gianluca Zambrotta) choice. Apart from that all he got was a long series of resounding “nos”, over Adriano, Samuel Eto’o, Andriy Shevchenko and Steven Gerrard.
Manchester United were supposed to be rebuilding. What did they turn up? A Korean winger (Park Ji Sung) and a goalkeeper who turns 35 in October (Edwin Van der Sar). Hardly anything to write home about.
Liverpool? Well, they’ve certainly been active. They brought in four players and are close to securing Peter Crouch from Southampton and Luis Figo from Real Madrid. Except that apart from Figo and, arguably, goalkeeper Jose Reina, none of the new faces is likely to set pulses racing. Antonio Barragan is an 18-year-old right-back who might not start for years to come. Mark Gonzales spent half of last season sitting on the bench at Albacete in the Spanish second division. Boudewijn Zenden, while gifted, was a free transfer and appears destined to be a squad player. As for Crouch, well, sometimes it’s hard to figure out what Rafa Benitez is thinking.
The Gerrard situation did not help matters. But in a sense, it’s a fitting sign of the times. Perhaps it was all about money after all and he feels loved when he’s making £100,000 a week, less so at a mere £60,000. If that’s the case, he confirmed some of the worst stereotypes about greedy footballers. But it’s equally true that Liverpool had made serious contingency plans and were all too happy to shop him around. Part of the reason he stayed was the total lack of interest he generated from anyone other than Chelsea . The offers from the likes of AC Milan, Barcelona and Real Madrid simply never mater-ialised. And why would they? Milan’s eggs are all in one basket – Parma striker Alberto Gilardino – and Barcelona are tapped out, which is why they’ve made just one signing, and that was a Bosman (PSV’s Mark Van Bommel). As for Real Madrid, they’re having trouble meeting Santos’ demands for wonder kid Robinho – their bid is stuck at £11m, £7m short of the asking price and they won’t be buying unless they can move some of their top earners.
Yet perhaps the most surprising twist came out of Highbury. For three of the last four years Patrick Vieira had flirted with moves abroad, keeping manager Arsene Wenger and the Gunners faithful on tenterhooks. The shoe is now on the other foot. Vieira has been told in no uncertain terms that he is up for sale. Wenger’s sights are set on Lyon’s Mahamadou Diarra, a younger, cheaper and less tormented soul.
Arsenal seem to have decided that the time is ripe to cash in on their skipper, who is 29 and is coming off arguably his worst season at Highbury. That’s why they met Juventus’ emissaries on Wednesday. Juve, of course, are strapped for cash themselves, which is why they were only able to muster a bid of £6m plus midfielder Steven Appiah (generously valued by the bianconeri at £6m, for a total of £12m). Arsenal were hoping for something in the £18m to £20m range, cash only, but, again, it’s a sign of the times that they have scheduled further talks with Juve for Tuesday.
Vieira, like Gerrard at Liverpool, is a cornerstone of the side. Just six months ago it seemed unthinkable that Arsenal would happily listen to offers. But the harsh reality is that everyone is looking for a bargain these days. The £5m-a-year that the very top players command is becoming increasingly difficult to justify.
Last season proved that Vieira is not an ideal midfield partner for Cesc Fabregas. And, while he may be just 18, the Catalan playmaker is the future of Arsenal (not to mention the fact that he makes a 10th of what Vieira earns). All of a sudden, Arsenal figure that if they can get, say, even just £10m for Vieira, while saving themselves £10m in wages over the next two seasons, selling him would free up some £20m. And if you can get Diarra for £6m and pay him £2m-a-season in wages – which is realistic – Arsenal will have a ready-made replacement who is five years younger plus an extra £10m to play with.
This kind of logic is the same that prompted United to take the £100,000-a-week offer to Rio Ferdinand off the table. He was reportedly holding out for £120,000 a week, which would have made him the highest paid defender in the world. His deal expires in June 2007, but United know that time is on their side. If Ferdinand has the kind of lacklustre season he had last year, his demands will soften. Equally, nobody is beating a path to this door, partly because they know that he simply isn’t worth £5m a year, let alone £6m.
On balance, this kind of bean-counting is probably good for football. It is reversing the trend of spiralling wages . But, of course, it can be taken too far. Witness Inter Milan, a side not known for their transfer nous. They were due to pay Christian Vieri £9m in wages and guaranteed bonuses in the final year of his contract. They figured the 32-year-old’s skills were declining, despite scoring a respectable 12 goals in 19 starts in an injury-slowed campaign. Besides, they were keen to unleash the pairing of Adriano and Nigerian starlet Obafemi Martins. So they reached an agreement whereby they would pay him £7m in exchange for voiding the final year of his contract. That way, they saved themselves £2m.
Great thinking ... until they realised they had forgotten to get a pledge from Vieri not to join a competing Italian club. Which is exactly what he did. He signed for rivals AC Milan. What’s more, because he received a lump sum payment of £7m, he was happy to lower his wage demands to a more manageable £2.5m a year for two seasons.
In one fell swoop, Inter got nothing back for a player they spent £30m on six years ago, shelled out £7m for the priv-ilege of doing so and saw him join their fiercest rivals. As for Vieri, he doesn’t even need to move house.
Asset management
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@ the Vieri part.
