The Transfer That Transformed Football
.webp)
A LOOK AT HOW NEYMAR'S TRANSFER TO PSG IN 2017 CHANGED THE WAY FOOTBALL TRANSFERS WORK TODAY.
What can $1 million get you in football today?
According to the inflation rate, $1 million in 1980 is equivalent to $3.7 million today. Trevor Francis became the first footballer to be sold for $1 million back in 1979, and these days, it takes at least two zeroes to follow that million dollars before you can sign an elite player.
THE FIRST MILLION-DOLLAR MAN OF FOOTBALL, TREVOR FRANCIS
Neymar’s record-breaking move to PSG
While Neymar's recent move to Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia is still making headlines, his 2017 switch from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain altered the trajectory of transfers in football. Neymar was undoubtedly among the top 3 footballers in the world then and had just pioneered Barcelona to make one of the greatest comebacks against the club, which he signed for later, PSG (Paris Saint-Germain). That same summer, Neymar transferred to PSG for a staggering €222 million, surpassing the previous transfer record (Paul Pogba to Manchester United for €105 million).
RECORD TRANSFER
FEES FOR FOOTBALLERS OVER THE YEARS
NEYMAR JR OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCED AS A PSG PLAYER IN 2017
How did this change
affect the transfer market?
The transfer market became extremely volatile
after this move. Every club, agent, and player was taken aback by this
transfer—not because of the move itself, but rather because of the outrageous
amount of money spent to make it happen. The money being spent in today's market does not always
reflect a player's true potential as average players who would have been valued
at €40–50 million on the regular market are being sold for €75–85 million.
FIFA even had to introduce new regulations that resulted in spending caps and
guidelines for clubs to follow when adding new players to their rosters.
Barcelona's fall from grace
When he
joined Barcelona in 2013, Neymar's career didn't get off to the best of starts,
but over the next three years, he transformed into a nightmare for his
opponents as he amassed every club football trophy possible with the help of
his incredible team, which included Messi, Suarez, Xavi, Iniesta, and others.
Following Neymar's departure, both Barcelona's and Neymar's fortunes began to
decline. Barcelona's inability to effectively utilize the proceeds from the
sale of Neymar cost them financially in the following years. Even though they
won a trophy or two in almost every season, it appeared like they were always
lacking Neymar's X factor, and as a result, they were gradually becoming a
force that no one dared to fear. Their decline became even more evident when
their greatest player, Messi, had to leave them in 2021.
Did anyone truly benefit from this transfer?
Surprisingly, some did. Many star players we watch on TV are scouted from mid-tier clubs or unknown local clubs. When a big club wants to purchase those players, they must spend a significant sum of money on that player, which benefits the small club financially and enables it to make investments and grow.
The emergence of state-owned clubs
The clubs
that are owned by holding companies with financial freedom are those that are
classified as state-owned. Two excellent examples of state-owned teams are PSG
and Manchester City. Many
prominent clubs out there are struggling to compete with the likes of these
clubs as they don’t have as much financial capacity as them and consequently,
more clubs in the future will be state-owned. This simply means that fans’ authority over their favorite
clubs will diminish over the years which is tragic given that the game of football
is nothing without their fans.
Comments
Post a Comment