World Football Thread

[BigPete33]

Definitely an interesting read.

Have you noticed the prices being bandied about in Europe for players this transfer window?

Real Madrid pay 80mil pounds for Ronaldo (that's sick btw) and soon as word gets out that they want Ribery as well, Bayen Munich slap a value on him that's similar because "he's worth as much as Ronaldo" (according to Bayern).

Suddenly, everyone else is putting up their valuations of their players - especially if an uber cashed up club wants them.

"What's that? Man City/Man Utd/Real Madrid/Chelsea want player x?"

"40 million and not a pound less!"

[Chelsea4thewin]

supply/demand puts the prices up

[BigPete33]

It does, but at the moment it's ridiculous for other reasons.

Man City and Real Madrid (and previously Chelsea) have effectively raised the cost of absolutely everyone they've been linked to because the clubs the players currently belong to know they have bucketloads of cash and will spend it if they have to. Anyone dealing with Man Utd also now knows there's the better part of 80 mil pounds to try and grab a share of due to the crazy fee paid for Ronaldo.

Liverpool had to pay more than they would have liked for Glen Johnson partly because Chelsea were interested and Portsmouth knew that Chelsea at the least would cough up more than most so they promptly went and asked for around 20 mil.

Both Chelsea's previous crazy spending and Portsmouth's willingness to stick to their guns and demand more money are the reasons why the price was so high for that player. I certainly don't blame Portsmouth because it's at least left them with suitable compensation for a quality player and they won't be out of pocket to purchase a replacement, or 2 if they play their cards right.


If we go back to Adelaide and look at how they've done things, they've been doing what looks like the opposite.

They've not only NOT stuck to their guns and asked for more money, they've accepted bids that are for less than the players actual worth! Ogenovski is a great example of that.

With players like Burns and Djite there's an element of the players development to be considered, but it wouldn't have been terrible for them to have stayed and have another great season which would only have increased their value and demand for them even further. Then Adelaide might have not been so short changed in the market.

[bennymacca]

you have made a good point pete - the big clubs in the world have effectively jack up prices so much they they are the only ones that can afford those players now.

hang on a second, aren't you proving my point?

[BigPete33]

Nope, and this is the bit you seem to miss

They've jacked up the price, certainly - but it's the smaller (or even just 'less big') clubs who will benefit the most. They've demanded more money, and gotten that money.

The major issue, and what I keep referring back to, is what those clubs then do with that cash injection. If they make a bad investment and/or pay way more than they should for another player (or players) then that's just bad business and that's their own fault.

If Harry Redknapp was still manager at Portsmouth (only left mid last season), and he'd just been given the better part of 20 mil pounds due to the sale of Glen Johnson to Liverpool, he would be one of the managers who wouldn't have simply wasted it on one player who wasn't quite that good.

That bloke is legendary in the transfer market, regardless of how much or how little cash he has to spend. Not only that, he gets the best out of whoever is in the squad and his teams consistently over-achieve. The downside is he looks like a clown without make-up So that would be an example of a "smaller" club getting a cash injection and actually using it wisely. I'd not be surprised to see 3 or even 4 players strengthening the whole squad in place of the one good player they lost. That's better for them as a club and will help them be more consistent in the league which in turn leads to bigger and better things for them overall. This is excellent for the EPL.

Sticking with this example, if we have a look at Glen Johnson, he used to be at Chelsea but wasn't really getting a game - even though he was clearly a quality player. This is why he was at Chelsea to start with. He wanted more game time and needed to move elsewhere to get it. Portsmouth signed him for not a lot of money, gave him the game time he needed so he could develop, which in turn helped them as a club - then sold him for close enough to 20 mil pounds. Hardly terrible!

Yes, Liverpool benefit because they get another quality player - but there's no way that Portsmouth don't also benefit greatly. It's just up to them what they do with that money.

[bennymacca]

while you are right pete, this effectively means that clubs like pompey jsut serve a purpose for:

1. young players to make a name for themselves before being sold
2.good but not elite players to get some game time to jack up their price before being sold
3. good but not elite players to ply their trade in the EPL.


it seems to me that the truly elite players are only available to the biggest clubs. the secondary clubs to benefit from this, but still not to the degree of the big clubs.

[BigPete33]

Both yes and no.

That certainly can and does happen.

Some clubs have much better youth development programs than others and therefore stand to benefit more from such practices, should they choose to. There are clubs in europe that are recognised 'feeder clubs' who pretty much thrive on doing just that.

At the end of the day though, it's still up to them if they want to sell a player or not. If a club chooses to ask a quite unreasonable (ie: high) transfer fee for a promising young player and someone wishes to stupidly pay it, that's a win win situation. Also, if that asking price is not met, the player stays at the club and continues to help them do well which is good for them in any case.

I'm sure you agree with me that it's a positive thing for youth development to get a lot of focus.

Interestingly, clubs like Arsenal (and also recently Liverpool) have put a LOT of focus in this area as they can see the sense in trying to develop their own players or purchasing them while they're still young and developing - helps avoid hefty transfer fees in the future, not to mention being something to aspire to for the local areas youth.

[Bacon]

Not all elite players move to the elite clubs.

Players like Gerrard get to the elite level, and stay at just one club, yet don't win titles.

[BigPete33]

You prick

[Chelsea4thewin]

bacon dont let pete read that he will talk about all the titles the club won 'back in the day'