Million Dollar Men

September 12, 2008

Only seven years have lapsed since Zinedine Zidane transferred from Juventus to Real Madrid in a world record £45.62million deal. Arguably one of the most talented footballers of his era, Zidane’s move from Serie A to La Liga did not come as much of a surprise. However, the money that exchanged hands during this deal set a benchmark for all future transfers and has had an outstanding impact on the game worldwide. How could one man be worth so much money? Many followers of the game would argue that ‘Zizou’ was worth every penny as he dazzled fans at the Bernabeu with his breathtaking displays. Others, however, would argue that although Zidane was undoubtedly an outstanding talent, the fee that brought him to Madrid was grossly over exaggerated, and set a dangerous precedent in the game at the time.

Luis Figo was involved in one of the world’s other biggest transfers only a year earlier. His move from Barcelona to arch rivals Real Madrid cost Real an incredible £37million; not as much as Zidane, but nonetheless a vast sum of money. Hernan Crespo’s move from Parma to Lazio wasn’t too far behind when Lazio paid £35.5million for his services. Over £100million had been spent on three of the world’s hottest talents in just over 1 year!

Although, as yet, no one has broken the world transfer record, movements in the game in recent years have made this a real possibility, as businessmen and television have helped to dramatically boost football’s financial status. Roman Abramovich’s arrival at Chelsea sparked mass spending in the transfer market as he sought to turn the London club into the best in the world. Since the Russian’s takeover, Chelsea have spent well over £300million on new players! This spending has seen the likes of Michael Ballack, Ashley Cole, Didier Drogba and Jose Bosingwa arrive at Stamford Bridge. Although all individually very talented players, question marks have been raised over the amount that has been spent by the Blues during their dealings. It appears that Chelsea pay over-inflated prices for players just to ensure that they come to London rather than moving to any other of Europe’s biggest cities. In other words, millions of pounds that could be put to other uses, are being wasted on players who, ultimately fail to live up to the expectation that accompanies their huge transfer fee.

More recently, Abu Dhabi’s takeover at Manchester City, has opened the door for many more millions to be spent on players with the £33.87milion signing of Robinho, an indication of things to come. There have already been stories of possible January raids for Fernando Torres, Cesc Fabregas and Cristiano Ronaldo; the latter possibly being the subject of a bid of over £100million! There seems to be no end to ever increasing transfer fees as clubs compete with one another to land the best talent.

Transfer deadline day was no exception as £30.75million was spent by Manchester United on Dimitar Berbatov and Tottenham captured Vedran Corluka and Roman Pavlyuchenko for a combined £25.3million. That added to the £16.53million that they had already spent on Luka Modric earlier in the year!

Football evidently needs money to thrive. However, the trend in recent years has seen ridiculous sums of money being paid for players who, in all honesty, probably are not worth half as much as their actual transfer fee. Businessmen are beginning to take control of the game and it appears that, if you don’t have the money, then you won’t be able to purchase the best players. Is there a case for limiting the amount of money that can be spent on footballers? This would, in effect, reduce the investor’s power as other clubs would be able to compete for the same players. There would be a more level playing field if transfer fees were to be capped. Those against such a proposal may well argue that this would take some of the intrigue and excitement out of the game. Businessmen would see this as an affront to capitalism. The fact is we are moving towards a day when over £100 million will be spent on one single player. This surely cannot be good for the game. One can only imagine players of yesteryear frowning at today’s overpaid and overhyped footballers. It wasn’t obscene amounts of money that made Liverpool a success in the 1980s, or that catapulted Celtic to European glory in ’67, but a sheer passion for the game and a team spirit that sadly seems to be missing from football today. These are qualities that money simply cannot buy!

Jonathan Simmons.

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