City NOT Ruining Football

Manchester City were again portrayed as the bad boys when La Liga president Javier Tebas decided to have a grumble about modern football.

The man who once accused the Blues of “piddling in the pool" said in May that they, along with Paris Saint-Germain were “inflating the market" by spending large amounts on players.

But, according to new data, it turns out that the two biggest inflaters in English football are Chelsea and Manchester United – and in real terms City are behind Arsenal and Newcastle when it comes to raising the ceiling on transfer fees.

The problem with Tebas’ claim is that it does not take account of the fact that it is record fees which push prices skywards, not simply spending a large total.

For instance, buying six players at £15million each costs more than buying one for £80million – but it is the £80million buy which causes inflation.

When you look at the list of world record transfer fees, City do not have a single player in the top 20, which tells its own story.

They have repeatedly walked away from deals when the price is beyond their perceived value, such as Virgil Van Dijk, Fred, Riyad Mahrez initially, and will not pay Leicester’s current asking price for Harry Maguire.

Refusing to go above market value is counter-inflationary – it is clubs who pay above the going rate that drive prices up.

Research by Liverpool fan site Tomkins Times , which devised a clever method of calculating football inflation, reveals that not only are City not guilty of inflating prices, but that when you factor in football inflation – which is roughly ten times normal economic inflation - they are not even close.

In fact, if you take account of the way prices have risen, City have just two players in the highest 25 transfer fees – and none in the top ten.

The figures used by Tomkins Times places Sergio Aguero at eighth, but is based on the official £38million fee cited at the time.

Material released by the Football Leaks website shows that Aguero’s actual fee was £30million – which today would be about £108million.

And Kevin De Bruyne’s £54million fee in 2015 now translates as an £81million.

What that also shows is that when City have spent big on a single player, the fee has been justified – both have been world-class for City and represent value for money.

That cannot always be said for the players above them in the list.

Top of the pile is Andrei Shevchenko, whose £30.8million fee was enormous in 2006 – but in today’s terms would be around £137.8million.

In fact, the figures show that Chelsea have driven transfer fees up more than anyone, with ten of the top 25 fees – including Michael Essien (£130million), Didier Drogba (£122m), and Fernando Torres (£120m).

The only other club which has persistently pushed up prices is United, with seven of the top 25, including Wayne Rooney (£136.8m), Rio Ferdinand (£136.2m), Angel di Maria (£103m) and Juan Sebastian Veron (£101m).

Even Arsenal, with Jose Antonio Reyes (£96.5m) and Mesut Ozil (£83m) and Newcastle with Alan Shearer (£111m) and Michael Owen (£85m) have paid bigger real-terms fees than City.

It is at this point that the cry normally arises about clubs like United, Newcastle and Arsenal spending their own money, rather than money gifted to them by a rich benefactor, which is where Tebas was coming from.

Leaving aside the point that this ignores the fact that City have been spending within their means for five years, it is also irrelevant.

Inflation does not stop to ask the source of the money – it cares only for the amount.

If anyone had the time and expertise to work out the inflation of fees across Europe, City’s influence would be even more marginal.

This was pointed out by City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak, who referenced the world record fees paid by La Liga clubs for Luis Figo and Zinedine Zidane in the past – pointing out that Barcelona and Real Madrid have distorted the market more than anyone.

Senor Tebas, and the other snipers, need another target.

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/man-utd-transfer-chelsea-inflation-16583410