A short while ago there were rumours that Cristiano Ronaldo was allegedly “unsettled” at Real Madrid and with rumours stating he would want half-a-million pounds per week to return to the Premier League, questions have to be asked, a) is he worth it? and b) where does it stop?
If he does come back and he does get that kind of figure as a weekly wage then how many Premier League players, especially at the club he ends up at, will be knocking on the managers door wanting to negotiate their contract.
The price for a footballer
So is he worth it, is any footballer? If a club can afford it, without entering the realm of financial danger, then perhaps. If Ronaldo was to come back to the Premier League then it would most certainly be to a “top four club” – more than likely Manchester United – and that club will almost certainly as history dictates be pretty much guaranteed goals, assists, performances and possibly a pinch of controversy too. So in that respect if the club can afford it then yes it would probably work out for them.
But splashing vast amounts of cash on one player doesn’t always work. Angel Di Maria at Manchester United springs to mind, (Falcao too, although no transfer fee is involved at present a vast amount of money per week is) he hasn’t exactly set the Premier League alight with performances and goals. He has chipped in with 10 assists at the time of writing, which isn’t bad; but is it enough for a player who cost almost £60 million last summer? And with rumours around saying United could move him on in the summer will many United supporters lose sleep?
Maybe Chelsea should be the model here, believe it or not. They sold David Luiz for a hefty fee last summer even after the Brazilian had a poor World Cup, as well as several players deemed surplus to requirements, and spent the money on three new players in Diego Costa, Cesc Fabregas and Filipe Luis to the effect of improving the team as a result.
Sometimes it takes a season or two to adjust to a new club, league or country, but the amount of money that is being paid in transfer fees and in wages surely must help cushion any blow that moving lands on a player. Also gone are the days where players stopped at a club or indeed in one country for any great amount of time, so the move to a new place should have little effect in the long-term.
So where does it stop? Years ago we had the first £1 million pound footballer in Trevor Francis, how long before the first £1 million pound per week footballer comes along? The financial fair play rules are in effect now but will this be enough? Will clubs somehow find loopholes? Because at the end of the day it doesn’t look as if transfer fees or players wages will stay still, they will only rise and if clubs want the best players then they will undoubtedly find a way to pay for them. If they can’t? Then something has to give.
