Latest news with #transferfees
BBC News
7 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Forward thinking
The team most in need of goals is Manchester United.Last season, Mohamed Salah of Liverpool and Alexander Isak of Newcastle combined to score far more in the Premier League (52) than United did as an entire squad (44).Considering they had splurged more than £200m last summer to just about zero effect, it is no surprise that new defenders are way down on their list of priorities this everyone else, they are looking ahead by investing £62.5m on Matheus Cunha and another £65m-plus on Bryan a great time to be an attacker in the Premier League, but there is also huge pressure that comes with those transfer fees, especially at up to read more from Pat Nevin in his Football Extra newsletter
New York Times
17-07-2025
- Business
- New York Times
USMNT's most expensive transfers, and how Tillman, Johnny fit a recent trend
Even in this worldwide boom of inflation, some of this summer's transfer fees are truly difficult to contextualize at a glance. In the week-plus following the U.S. men's national team's runner-up finish at the Concacaf Gold Cup, two members of Mauricio Pochettino's squad have switched European clubs at an eight-figure valuation. Malik Tillman and Johnny Cardoso have joined Bayer Leverkusen and Atlético Madrid, respectively, for fees combining over $75 million. Tack on Patrick Agyemang leaving Charlotte FC for Derby County this week on an $8 million fee — among the highest returns for a player selected in the MLS SuperDraft — and it's been an opulent summer for players aiming to be on the squad for the 2026 World Cup co-hosts. Advertisement The market wasn't always so warm to USMNT-eligible players. Even into the early 2010s, many Americans were either acquired at a bargain valuation or on free transfers after trial periods. In January 2007, Clint Dempsey broke MLS records when Fulham signed him from the New England Revolution for just $4 million. The program's joint-record scorer (tied with Landon Donovan on 57 goals) again made history in August 2012 when Tottenham brought him across town from Craven Cottage for $9.5 million. Put another way, Dempsey — then a proven Premier League forward who helped Fulham reach a Europa League final — went for as much money as West Brom paid Orlando City for Daryl Dike three years ago. How the transfer market has changed. Some of this was inevitable given the increased finances in soccer. To condense an entire seminar's worth of backstory, most of the sport's history saw ticket sales, prize money and sponsorship agreements serve as the chief driver of revenue for clubs. There was an urgent need to ensure staunch gate receipts, to design shirts that would fly off the shelves and to have a proud host of companies lining the pitch on ad boards. On top of this, success on the field was a self-fulfilling path to retain a strong squad as winnings could be reinvested in higher wages and transfer fee expenditure. The 21st century has seen numerous innovations and advancements in how the sport's power brokers generate revenue, and with far greater returns than the previous paths could offer. It starts with viewers who weren't occupying seats at grounds. Broadcast rights have become league-altering bidding wars for the sport's top circuits, with the rise of streaming platforms only further increasing the options. Major leagues have become more accessible to a global audience, with fans able to foster stronger bonds from abroad with their teams possibly visiting on an occasional preseason tour. Advertisement None of this is under-reported, nor is it unique to soccer. It is, however, undeniably relevant to this surge in player valuations. In the past, the world's highest-caliber of clubs dominated and operated at the richest bracket of the transfer market. In something of a trickle-down economy, they would pluck the top talents from their less wealthy rivals, who could then reinvest those sums in hopes of finding its next wave of stars. The fees weren't astronomical by today's standards: Barcelona bought Ronaldinho from PSG for just under $35 million in 2003 and Thierry Henry from Arsenal for $28 million in 2007, for example. A simple inflation calculator puts those price tags at in $61 million and $43.4 million, respectively, in today's money. These days, clubs like AFC Bournemouth and Leeds United spend over $20 million with increasing regularity. All of which brings us back to Johnny, Tillman and the recent high sums for Americans abroad. Each of the dozen-plus highest fees for U.S. players have come in the past decade and involve players under 25, led by Christian Pulisic's $74.1 million move from Borussia Dortmund to Chelsea in January 2019. All fees in the table below have been directly reported over the years by The Athletic, with the exception of John Brooks' figure being on U.S. Soccer's official website. There is compelling context for these moves beyond teams having more money to spend than they used to. Pulisic's breakout with Borussia Dortmund was a bellringer of the rising standard of young stateside talent. After over six years in FC Dallas' setup, Weston McKennie joined Schalke's academy in 2016 and debuted in the Bundesliga a year later. When Pulisic left for Chelsea, Dortmund already had its next American talent in the wings: Giovanni Reyna, who arrived from New York City FC's academy. Youth movement doesn't garner nearly as significant fees as moves for senior players, but it isn't a surprise that McKennie was involved in a lucrative transfer following years of productivity in Germany. In a trend identified long before the Club World Cup, yet validated this summer, many of Europe's top teams operate more systematically, recruiting with data at the heart of the operation and coaches instructing players from positional play models that give strict responsibility guidance for each member of the squad. Roles have crystalized considerably; player recruitment more closely mirrors the corporate hiring process of a specialist position than it used to, and it's easier to project a tactical fit as a team's utilization of a player is easier to quantify. Advertisement This also helps erase longstanding stigmas tied to the nationality of the player. For every overpayment to obtain any young Brazilian playmaker with a bag of tricks, there were a dozen bargain bin signings from less sexy nations like those in Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia and North America (among other regions). Those biases have gradually been worn away with more clubs have sophisticated scouting operations, but having successes like Pulisic and McKennie only accelerates that process. Atléti wasn't assessing Johnny as 'an American midfielder,' which used to mean he would bust his tail every game but struggled technically; it was signing a player who proved himself in La Liga after Betis vetted his readiness and signed him from Brazil. The changing model of club ownership also plays a role. For generations, most owners were local stewards who saw their club as a local institution, even if it meant some lean years if revenue wasn't sustainable. Now, the sport is its own machine of profit-generation. Americans weren't previously dropping billions to helm Champions League contenders. Multi-club models were a twinkle in the Abu Dhabi royal family's collective eye, and loan deals were dependent on an outside entity wanted to temporarily house a player. Agreements between clubs make those processes easier, meaning more players can be signed and stashed in case they develop to a first-team standard — or can be sold for a profit. Just like Chelsea has Caleb Wiley and Gabriel Slonina on its books now, it took a flier on a 21-year-old Matt Miazga in January 2016. Manchester City has taken chances on Erik Palmer-Brown and Zack Steffen. Bayern Munich has tried matching Dortmund's success in the American market to varying degrees of success via Tillman, Chris Richards and Justin Che. None of this diminishes the major steps being taken by Tillman, Johnny and even Agyemang. Each is testing himself in a different setting, and each will almost certainly be a part of his new club's rotation from jump due to the amount invested by club ownership (though Derby indicated Agyemang's debut would be delayed due to hernia surgery). This list could be reshuffled some by summer's end, too, as more movement for USMNT regulars is reportedly in the offing. Yunus Musah could leave Milan after two difficult years, while Juventus apparently has suitors for both McKennie and Tim Weah. Josh Sargent, meanwhile, may be on the outs from Norwich City after years chasing promotion in vain. This may not yet be the USMNT's 'golden generation' in terms of on-field standard. In terms of the transfer market's valuation of U.S. talent, however, players of this nationality have never been assessed at a higher rate.
The Sun
15-06-2025
- Business
- The Sun
Football could introduce new transfer rule to let players buy out their contracts in radical move that would slash fees
MASSIVE transfer fees could soon become a thing of the past — with players' chiefs wanting stars to have freedom to break their contracts for a fixed compensation payment. The international players' union FifPro has accused Fifa of dragging its feet over new transfer rules after the European Court agreed that ex-Arsenal and Chelsea star Lassana Diarra was illegally "handcuffed" by Russian side Lokomotiv Moscow a decade ago. 4 4 Major agents claimed the October ruling was the first step towards a US-style 'free agency' for players, with fees becoming a thing of the past and stars only liable to pay the balance of their contracts when they switch clubs. Top clubs and Fifa are battling to resist such a move, while this summer Prem clubs already splashed out £375million before the full market officially opens tomorrow. But now FifPro has told stars and their lawyers to be ready to test Fifa's failure to react and use European law to push for freedom of movement. FifPro legal chief Alexandra Gomez Bruinewoud said: 'Every worker should have the right to end a contractual relationship. 'Knowing how much you will have to pay as compensation is part of that right. 'Also, the fact you leave your job should not prevent you from being hired in another job, which is what was happening in football.' Even the giants of the game may be forced into a major rethink by the repercussions of a row sparked in Moscow a decade ago. Former Chelsea, Arsenal and Portsmouth midfielder Diarra may not have really impacted the Prem in his four seasons, which brought just 44 top-flight games. Yet Diarra's win at the European Court of Justice looks increasingly likely to significantly change the way the transfer market works. If FifPro is right, the result will be for all players to have the right to break their contracts. It would see players worth £100m on the open market suddenly available for a fraction of that sum. Of course, any new regulations will not be introduced this summer. Fifa rushed through a series of temporary transfer regulations, with dire warnings of the 'collapse' of the transfer market unleashing 'chaos'. But FifPro remains unconvinced the latest moves from Zurich meet the demands of EU law. One insider explained: 'This could be the last few years of the inflated transfer fees we have all seen. 'The European Court has said that football must operate within EU law. 'Football is the outlier. There's no other industry — other than maybe thoroughbred horses — where you see employees change hands for millions of pounds and it is time for the game to be brought in step.' Gomez Bruinewoud added: 'The judges in the Diarra case explained why the system was against EU law. 'I'm not afraid to say the same Fifa rules are probably also against most national labour laws.' Top players will benefit from higher wages and longer deals, though with budgets finite, that would mean less cash and shorter deals for players further down the pecking order — and limited job security in the lower tiers. Prem club bosses also fear the consequences, arguing the effective abolition of fees would blow up the entire footballing pyramid as money would no longer 'trickle down'. It is likely that, as with the Jean-Marc Bosman courtroom saga that turned European football on its head 30 years ago, it will need another player to be the test case to break the current system. But it seems that challenge is a matter of time from being made. And with the players' union backing, the most fundamental change the game has ever seen. 4
News.com.au
09-05-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Arne Slot admits replacing Trent Alexander-Arnold may be tough
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot admits prohibitive transfer fees may be a barrier to him signing a ready-made replacement for Trent Alexander-Arnold.
