Since the millennium, the transfer fees of players have revolutionized. The basic units today are not thousands or hundred thousands but millions.
The minimum denomination of any transaction in the Premier League is one million. It is scary to think what kind of money may be changing hands during transfers.
The ways of collecting revenues are numerous: TV rights to official sportswear all play a part in the club's earning, but does the increase in revenue mean that the players earn a greater share?
The world record for transfer fee was broken by Real Madrid to obtain Zinedine Zidane from Juventus at the tune of some 46 million pounds. Thankfully for Madrid, Zidane performed and was successful. So was Luis Figo who had held the previous record of 38.7 million pounds. Surely it was Madrid who started the trend of spending big with their galactico policy. An infectious trend that has seen the players demand exorbitant sums from clubs in return to their services.
| Rank | Player | From | To | Transfer Fee(£ millions) | Transfer Fee(€ millions) | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zinedine Zidane | Juventus | Real Madrid | 46.0[1] | 76.0 | 2001 |
| 2 | Luís Figo | Barcelona | Real Madrid | 38.7[2] | 58.5 | 2000 |
| 3 | Hernán Crespo | Parma | Lazio | 35.5[3] | 53.6 | 2000 |
| 4 | Gianluigi Buffon | Parma | Juventus | 32.6[4] | 49.2 | 2001 |
| 5 | Christian Vieri | Lazio | Internazionale | 32.0[5] | 48.3 | 1999 |
| 6 | Andriy Shevchenko | Milan | Chelsea | 30.8[6] | 46.5 | 2006 |
| 7 | Pavel Nedvěd | Lazio | Juventus | 30.6[7] | 46.2 | 2001 |
| 8 | Wayne Rooney | Everton | Manchester Utd | 30.0[8] | 45.3 | 2004 |
| 9 | Rio Ferdinand | Leeds Utd | Manchester Utd | 29.5[9] | 43.9 | 2002 |
| 10 | Gaizka Mendieta | Valencia | Lazio | 29.0[10] | 43.8 | 2001 |
| 11 | Ronaldo | Internazionale | Real Madrid | 28.49[11] | 43.0 | 2002 |
| 12 | Juan Sebastián Verón | Lazio | Manchester Utd | 28.1[12] | 42.4 | 2001 |
The table clearly shows that all of the top ten transfers made in footballing history were from the year 2000 onwards (barring the transfer of Vieri).
The big buying continued with Manchester United spending big for players such as Rio Ferdinand, Wayne Rooney and Juan Sebastien Veron. Although Rooney and Ferdinand are considered as successful buys, Veron proved to be a costly error to Sir Alex and was sold for half the price to Chelsea.
Clubs such as Parma and Juventus, who haven't had a history of spending exorbitant sums for players, also spent big. Truly, the price-rise was infectious. Certain players such as Nicolas Anelka moved from club to club in search of better paymasters.
Chelsea was the next team to spend lavish sums in return for glamorous transfers. Roman Abramovich's financial muscle was almost the size of a small country's economy and hence Mourinho made the most of this treasure.
Michael Essien came for a whopping 24 million pounds, although his transfer was a success and his performances justified the price tag, a certain Andrei Shevchenko flattered to deceive. The 31 million pounds spent on him were far from what he deserves.
What classifies as a big transfer fee depends on the player involved. John Obi Mikel, an African youngster who was with Manchester United, was paid 16 million pounds to leave United and join Chelsea. This was clearly a deal made in haste and the strategy to acquire-the-player-at-all-costs was used. A characteristic of transfers involving Roman Abramovich.
It is not impossible to transfer good players at a reasonable cost. Nemanja Vidic, a hot transfer target during his days at Spartak Moscow, was literally stolen by Manchester United at 7 million pounds. Today, he is one half of Europe's best defensive partnership and his deal is considered a bargain.
Another great buy was Thierry Henry, who joined Arsenal for only 10.5 million pounds, a bargain considering teams such as Real Madrid and AC Milan were after him.
Due to this rise in prices, the mediocre players are also getting an amount that just does not justify their level of football. Darren Bent, who was priced at around 10 million pounds, was purchased by Tottenham for 16.5 million pounds. He has been one of the flops of the season.
The effect of the price rise is felt by smaller clubs who cannot afford to dish out millions every transfer period, hence they overprice promising players from their squad, hoping that their sale will get them the cash to fund more transfers, hence the cycle continues.
FIFA and other football-governing bodies must keep a check on these rising prices and pompous wages paid to clubs and players respectively, or else it won't be long before a club's greatness will be judged by its financial strength.
In the long run, cash-strapped teams will dominate football as a result of having all the good players. The underdog teams will be completely outclassed.
Hence, for the good of the game, provisions must be made that benefit the smaller teams.
What do you think about this trend of spending carelessly? Please share your thoughts.
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2 months ago
"Certain players such as Nicolas Anelka moved from club to club in search of better paymasters". - are you sure that PSG paid him more than Real Madrid? Or that Man City paid him more than PSG? - Infact the only move you are sure of where he received an increase in salary was his move from Bolton to Chelsea.
Other than that slight dig at a Chelsea player (considering you're a United fan), this a decent article and you're actually making some valid points...
from 2 months ago
now,now,now.....I'm not taking digs at anyone...care to explain the 31 million pound price tag on Shevchenko...??
from 2 months ago
Well that as been a complete waste of money. BUT, how could anyone have foreseen his demise. He was the best striker in Europe if not the world at the time we signed him.
The Shevchenco in Milan was well worth 30M, and had he continued that form when he arrived at Chelsea nobody would have mentioned his 30M price tag...
2 months ago
I do think that when football players are growing up, the main thing they have on their mind is the money and driving a bentley. great attitude to football aint it.
Far too much money is being spent, simple as.
2 months ago
One thing many people forget is that while you see.. 31 million pounds, or 40 million pounds.. etc. you're looking at the potential value of the transfer. I don't think that anyone except the clubs know the breakup of that transfer fee.. (eg) Wayne Rooney was bought for something like 30 million pounds.. now how much of that figure has actually been spent by Man Utd till date is a mystery. People don't know about certain clauses inserted like "if we win the EPL next year, X amount goes towards the transfer fees". So.. the actual amount paid on most players would be far less than what is actually being said.
That said, the transfer market is inflated and has been for a long long time. It is a worrying trend and one has to only look at clubs like Leeds Utd to see what kind of an impact it can have on many clubs.
2 months ago
While clubs spend huge amounts on players( £30+ these days on any player), you also have to remember how much these clubs make in revenue every year, even WITHOUT winning a trophy. eg. Tv rights(estimated to be near £40million for a top team), then say ticket revenue(imagine United with 76,000 at every home game), then you have the actual windfalls from entering Champions League etc.
2 months ago
I think actually your table shows that transfer spending HAS calmed down. With the exceptions of Rooney and Shevchenko, every other one of those signings was at least 6 years ago. 6 years is a long time in football, and the price of Rooney was inflated at the time because Man Utd were in a bidding war with Newcastle that Everton played very nicely.
Of course, Chelsea overspend for every player they sign, because selling clubs know they can get away with it, but generally, prices are more sensible now than they were. Bent to Spurs was an exception to the general rule (in fact, Spurs seem to overspend quite regularly, rather strangely, when you look at £8m for Kaboul, £15m for Modric, I think they need a new negotiating team!). While Abramovich was determined to buy Shevchenko at any cost. Its a bit like playing a computer game and cheating so you have unlimited funds for him, Sheva was his favourite player, Milan said £30m, so he stumped it up, it meant nothing to him, even though we know Sheva was probably worth £10m at the most given his age and injury problems in the previous season.
from 2 months ago
30M for Sheva at the age of 29 isnt that bad given his enormous record and goal scoring ability he showed throughout his Milan career. Its only NOW, looking back at the fee and seeing how it turned out that it looks a complete a waste of money.
I completely agree that teams increase the price of certain players when Chelsea come calling. Some we give in because they are genuinely needed, others we give up on e.g, Daniel Alves..
2 months ago
I disagree Salomon. In his last season at AC Milan, and in the 2006 World Cup, most pundits were agreed that he was already looking like a player on the wane. He still scored plenty of goals that season, but was not as dominant a striker as he once had been, and injuries were taking their toll on his famous pace. He was very ropey in the World Cup that year.
That decline at Chelsea has just continued, true, and hindsight is a wonderful thing, but I still think the signs were there that his best days were in the past. I would liken it to Ronaldinho this campaign, or Henry last summer.
from 2 months ago
I completely agree.
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