By John O’Leary
When it was announced that Paris Saint-Germain would be paying a mind-boggling £200 million for Brazil’s most famous export, it led to the usual media rumblings about how the sport has gone mad, and largely irrelevant top ten lists of other uses to which the money could have been put.
However, the point is that football is a global industry worth billions in revenue every year, and the star footballers are what makes it work. The transfer market alone has almost become a game within a game – let’s find out more.
Football’s game within a game
The August transfer window provides a time for football fans to prove they understand what is going on behind the scenes, and for those who like to place a bet to put their money where their mouth is. Right now, the gambling sites are offering compelling odds on who will be going where, and online casino kung is a case in point. For example, until the Neymar transfer stole everyone else’s thunder, all the talk had been around Ronaldo. He is currently at 1-20 on to remain at Real, with odds of 12-1 being available on a move to Manchester United.
Other examples abound, and enthusiasts can search on the player of their choice and collect some tidy winnings by demonstrating their knowledge of the transfer market.
Upping the ante
It is unsurprising that Neymar’s move has caused such reaction. While the transfer itself is nothing out of the ordinary, the funds involved go far beyond anything that has been seen before. And while the £200 million transfer fee is large enough of itself, there is also the small matter of Neymar’s £40 million annual salary – equivalent to £782,000 per week before taxes. In total, the transfer will cost Paris St Germain a cool £400 million.
To put it into context, the previous highest transfer fee was paid by Manchester United when they brought Paul Pogba back from Juventus in August of last year. The fee on that occasion was €105 million (£89 million). This in turn beat the €100 million that Real Madrid paid Tottenham Hotspur in order to sign Gareth Bale back in 2013.
However, in real terms, this is nothing the football world has not seen before. When the late great Johan Cryuff was signed by Barcelona in 1973 for around £1 million, it doubled the previous record in just the same way, and the same applied with Diego Maradona’s £3 million move to the same club in 1982.
Interestingly, Maradona almost achieved the “doubling the ante” feat twice, beating his own record with a £5 million move to Napoli just two years later.
What is next?
Now that the bar has been raised, do not be surprised if transfer fees in the £200 million range become the new norm. The real question is when the next 100 percent hike will happen. Will Neymar himself exemplify Maradona and move on somewhere else in 2019 for a £400 million transfer fee? Age is on his side, so it is certainly not something to rule out.