The Incurable Truth Of The Football Transfer Market

Everyday we hear and read about unethical practices in football, whether it has to do with coaches, managers, agents, or the players themselves.

A lot of the time most of what we hear is rumors or some form of false news that newspapers and media outlets put out there in order to sell more papers or gain more viewership. How much of what is out there is really true, how much is just a lie?

When we read the paper or watch television, do we just believe everything or our we able to sift the truth from the lies. The recent stories about Cristiano Ronaldo, which is very boring by now, is an excellent example to illustrate how ethics and pure football practices are dying off.

In any business or deal it is law that you have a legal contract to avoid differences or any sort of problems later on, similar in this case Ronaldo signed a five year contract with Manchester united, ensuring the Portuguese winger will be at Old Trafford till 2012.

So lets take a look at how teams the likes of Madrid would benefit from the media without really saying anything themselves. Real knows if they had to just put an offer on the table, the so called "traditional way," United would reject it out right from the performance of Ronaldo in the last season.

What was required is that the player, in this case is Ronaldo, needs to see what he will get, how much he will get paid, the benefits in terms of lifestyle and luxuries, so they (the media) start to exaggerate everything and make it look very rosey, as if he will be the real one to benefit. Of course he will make a lot of money, but Madrid will make twice as much from every ad campaign or appearance Ronaldo makes.

What we need to understand is that gone are the days where football was about football, now it's all about the amount of money you (the team) can milk out of a player, and if the player is a superstar, well, then you can open a milk factory.

Previously when teams would be interested in a particular player and make that interest public, majority of the public would be interested in the players ability, skills, and talents, which is very normal.

Today, a lot has changed. A player is defined by his price tag. If Ronaldo is worth 70 million pounds it should mean he is brilliant. On the other hand, Lampard is worth 10 million pounds so he is not all that good.

But this is not always true. Yes Ronaldo is a talented player but so is Lampard, but because he is aged, his price tag drops and naturally the public believe he is not that good a player.

Look at David Beckham, another son of Manchester United. It has be reported that he earns around 500,000 pounds a week. He is 32-years-old and that's a lot of money for an in-form 26-year-old, so the laws when it comes to players earning are changed and modified to suit the clubs, and ultimately the billionaires who now can make millions on the side.

Just a matter of interest, someone like Ronaldo might feel a little bitter knowing that "currently" he is performing better than Beckham but is earning so much less.

This unspoken truth, where clubs tap players into coming when they are still under contract and where smaller teams feel obligated to sell is ruining the game.

Smaller teams always seem to produce young talent, 17- or 18-year-olds who have tremendous skill and talent. But as soon as they are notice by the European giants, its the smaller clubs who suffer the blow.

For many young players it's a dream come true to play at Manchester, Arsenal, or Real Madrid. With it comes fame, fortune, recognition, and a whole load of other benefits. So saying no to an offer from Barcelona would be stupidity on their side.  That is why we always see these small clubs falling into relegation, they are unable to get consistent in their performance.

Take for instance Brazil, a nation that undoubtedly has the most number of talented young, and old, footballers. To be a Brazilian player already adds so much merit, and to play for the national team mean so much to them.

But ask yourself why is it that although they have so many great players, the Brazilian league is the poorest league with the richest talent available. The answer is simple, no corporation wants to spend money where they won't be huge kick backs, in terms of large viewership and big ad sales.

In 2006 it was reported that there was more than a 1,000 Brazilians playing in Europe. This has a negative and positive effect on Brazilian football. The negative been all the talent is always shipped away and because these players are now in Europe there isn't any major investment in their own country. The positive thing is that they have so much experience playing in different conditions—paying with and against players from other countries and learning so much that when it comes to playing for their national team, they have so much to share, and because they all come together they bring so much to the table.

Carlos Alberto Perreira made a comment when he was the coach of the Brazilian national team, he said that the reason why English football (England National team) is so poor is not because their are so many foreign players in England, but it's because there are so few English players in other leagues.

So this constant breach of ethics in the game has become so normal, that it has been allowed and accepted by majority of the public. We won't stop Spanish giants from continuously poaching young Argentinians and Brazilians, we will not stop big English clubs from signing African stars for very little sign-up fees.

Yes, after a while they all end up earning big salaries but the real losers are the former clubs who lose top players—player who made an impact to the team for very little.

If Ronaldo ends up at Madrid—although Ferguson made a statement in South Africa this week saying the youngster is going nowhere after having met with him—it would be a shame to football and a shame to ethics of the game to see players and clubs breaching contract.

Many have blamed Manchester and, in particular, Sir Alex for making a number of transfer deals by tapping players, but this practice will continue in every top club because young unknowns want to make a name for themselves at the same time make loads of cash and have lavish lifestyles.