Transfer senselessness in England

Jul 27, 2017

Football transfer madness didn’t start with 23-year-old defender, Benjamin Mendy

Football transfer madness didn't start with 23-year-old defender, Benjamin Mendy, who -  after just one season with Monaco who had signed him on a five year contract from Olympique Merseille - was snapped up early this week by Manchester City for a world record fee for a defender at £52 million.

Neither did it start with Manchester United's Romero Lukaku, whose £75 million transfer from Everton left observers purring, nor defender Kyle Walker's £ 45 million transfer from Tottenham Hot Spur to City.

The impunity of spending on players with reckless abandon was in fact started by Real Madrid in 2013 when they inexplicably valued Spurs' Gareth Bale at £85million, then, a world record. This was £5 million more than what it had cost them to buy four-time Ballon d'Or winner Christiano Ronaldo four years before, for the previous world record transfer fee. By then, Bale was nothing short of an exciting flying left footed winger-cum defender who had made a steady progress as he rose through the ranks at middle table Spurs in the Premiership.

Madrid were looking for a player with the direct attacking menace of  Lionel Messi. They had a plan. His primary attacking qualities of speed, close ball control and dribbling would complement Angel Di Maria and Ronaldo, to forge a hurricane at the front of Madrid's creative play. If this was a gamble, then Real didn't know about it because Bale's impact was immediate. In his four years, Real have won three Champions League trophies, La Liga, FIFA Club World cup, two UEFA Super cups and the Copa del Rey. The most famous Welsh footballer of all time has more than repaid his price tag. 

The £75 million acquisition of Neymar (2013) and £65million  for Luis Suarez (2014) though not world record breaking transfers by FC Barcelona were jaw dropping front liners with screaming headlines but not shocking. Neymar was supposed to be the next Pele and he's already the best Brazilian footballer since Ronaldinho Gaucho, while Suarez has been the best center forward in European football for the last four years. Both were proven world class attacking players who have won nine trophies including La Liga, Champions League, FIFA club world cup, UEFA super cup, Copa del Rey in the last three - and - half years. Again, like Ronaldo and Bale, the two Barcelona super stars have more than repaid the astronomical transfer fees.

It goes without saying that we can't over state the ripple effect their arrivals in  Spain had on the sale of match tickets, season tickets, jerseys, club merchandise, television revenues, endorsements and other commercial deals for the clubs. This is the sense that Real and Barcelona use when they choose to break the bank for specific talents. There should not be any surprise therefore, that both these two clubs account for five of the last seven champions league trophies.

The tone for what we are witnessing in this current transfer season was set last season when in the most mystifying transfer of all time, Jose Mourinho broke the world transfer record  when he paid £89 million for Paul Pogba from Juventus. The United midfielder ; far removed from the world class of Zinedine Zidane, Roman Riquelme, Michael Ballack, Xavi Hernandez, Steven Gerrard, Andreas Pirlo, Paul Scholes,  has neither the qualities nor the X- factor of a footballer who can single handedly lead a club to a championship nor the leadership. United may have won the League cup and UEFA Europa League in Pogba's first full season, but it wasn't for his influence, quality or leadership. It was down to Mourinho's re-known tactical acumen and some distinct performances from Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henrikh Mkhtiryan, and youngster Rashford.

That hasn't stopped Mourinho from again leading the transfer money brackets this summer in the premiership with £75 million for Lukaku. The same price it cost Barcelona to acquire Neymar and Juventus to acquire Higuain. It's £10 million more than it cost Barcelona to acquire Suarez.

For all it's madness, the move for Lukaku at that mind numbing price is not as laughable as Pep Guardiola's assault on the transfer record for defenders. Mendy, Walker and Danilo have been acquired at a combined fee of £126 million a move which, short of delivering the Premiership next season, will translate into a scandal.  Is Wendy the next Marcelo? Walker the next Dani Alves?  The answer could be at Chelsea, where,   not to be outdone, Antonio Conte  has joined the band wagon and splashed £67 million on Alvaro Morata as a replacement for Diego Costa. While Real and Madrid set their eyes squarely on winning both at home and in Europe when splashing money extravagantly, it remains to be seen what Premiership teams are attempting to achieve with these headline grabbing transfers.

 

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