Transfer market
The transfer market first came into existence in England after The
Football Association started to register players in 1885. Before that, a player
could play for any club he wanted to whenever he wanted. There was no such
thing as a contract as we have today that binds a player to a club. So, when The The Football Association started to register players in 1885, players were
not allowed to play for another club during the same season. The players
however, were free to join another club before the start of each season, even
if their former club wished to retain them.
Today, the transfer market is slightly different. One of the last
changes is the transfer window. The transfer window came in 2002 and was created
to stop the confusion that had followed Bosman (an earlier change in the transfer market). So from 2002 to the present
day, most leagues around Europe have two ‘’windows’’ in which players may be
purchased. The windows are from 1 July to 31 of August and the whole January.
Players without a contract are free to join a club whenever they want to. (Wikipedia, 2015)
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Despite all the
changes in the transfer market, the biggest one is the money. Football has
become so popular that rich people that own billion dollar companies buy fotball
clubs and then invest big money in the club. This has resulted in higher salaries for the players and huge transfers fees. Clubs also make huge money
from TV- Deals, sponsors, selling fotball jerseys and match day tickets.
A Transfer,
step by step
Completing a transfer can be a lot of work and it can take a long time.
There are so many things that have to be approved, written and done by both clubs
that are involved in the transfer. Scouting, the bid and the medical test are three important steps in transfer,
and they will be looked more closely at in the following paragraphs:
1. Scouting
When
you are going to buy a player worth millions of dollars, you want to make sure
that he is the right one. Football scouting is an evolving industry. The days
where managers had to buy players by instinctive judgements from the stands,
are now over. Most clubs nowadays use computer programmes, such as Scout7, to gather detailed statistical analyses of players.
Scouts in the field now spend almost as much time gathering information off the
field as they do watching a player on it, Speaking to their agents and making
relationships with their families to stay a step ahead of their rivals. Few
people know, but the transfer market is more competitive than most industries.
2. The Bid
The next step in a transfer is the transfer or loan offer. There are a few different ways to make this offer, so I am going to explain two of them:
- The most obvious way is for the buying club to submit a formal written offer for a player, seemingly by fax. The selling club will then consider this offer
- Another common way is if the club have a trusted agent that can act on their behalf, in either finding an available player from another club, or finding a buyer for their own unwanted player.
3. The medical test
The finishing terms in the deal are the medical,
and for some players, the work permit. The medical test at top-level clubs is very strict, and is usually done at the clubs' training ground. As mentioned earlier in the text, the transfer market has a ‘’time limit’’ also known as the
transfer window. This makes clubs to take gambles on players if they are
running out of time. Liverpool, for example, signed Andy Carrol in the end of
the January window while the striker was injured, and not able to take the
medical test. In other words, a medical test is not required. (Transfer steps, 2015)
Transfer money
As mentioned above in the text, ‘’ Despite all the changes in the transfer market, the
biggest one is the money.’’ In many ways, money has changed the football, both
off the field and on it. You may well be thinking who gets paid from a football
transfer? Every transfer can be very different as to who gets paid and how
much. Unbeknown, there may be far more parties involved when it comes to the
successful transfer of a professional player. So who can potentially be rewarded
as part of a football player transfer?
- Selling Club (transfer fee)
- Player (signing on fee)
- Former Clubs (compensation payments)
- Selling Club’s Agents
- Buying Club’s Agents
- Player’s Agents
The biggest part of the money will of course go to the
selling club, after that you have the player that is being sold who gets a
share of the money if it says so in the contract.
Many of the biggest football stars in the world come from small clubs, so when they wrote their first professional contract the
small clubs often demanded that they got a share of the money in a future
transfer. Therefore, former clubs often get a share of the transfer fee.
‘’How much does the agents get’’ is a question many
people ask, and this depends on how much they are involved in the transfer.
Both the buying club, the selling club and the player have an agent to represent
themselves, and some of them receive a pre-agreed sum, others get a share of
the transfer fee. It all depends on what is in the contract. (fifafotballagent.com, 2015)
Rank
|
Player
|
From
|
To
|
Year
|
||
1–2
|
£78–85.3
|
€91–100
|
||||
1–2
|
£80
|
€94.4
|
||||
3
|
£75
|
€94
|
||||
4
|
£63
|
€79.5
|
||||
T-5
|
£59.7
|
€75
|
||||
T-5
|
£46
|
€75
|
||||
£59
|
€69
|
|||||
8
|
£56
|
€65
|
||||
9
|
£55
|
€64
|
||||
10
|
£50
|
€62.6
|
The owners
Owners of football clubs have been around for a very long time, but
whereas in the past the amount of money these people had to invest to buy their
clubs is small fry compared to what the present day owners have to do. Today it
is required to be a billionaire rather than a millionaire to have a chance to
buy a club at the highest level. Some clubs have fan-ownerships (shareholders),
in other words this means fans from all over the world can buy a small share of
the club. Fan-ownership are very popular in England combined with another rich
owner. This gives the clubs financial sustainability.
Having rich owners brings pressure for success from many quarters.
Owners and shareholders are looking for a return on their investment; managers
and players risk losing their jobs if they fail to progress, but one of the
biggest sources of pressure will always come from the fans who feel they deserve
success.
Football has become a business, but like any other
business there is no guarantee that it will be successful if the investment is
not forthcoming. (Thenewshub.com, 2015)
Summary
In just a few years, football has changed enormously.
In addition, it is not just the money, but the football generally. The players,
managers, football shoes, balls etc. everything has changed for the better, and
it will keep changing for the better. In 20 years from now, the transfer fees
will probably be higher, salaries will be bigger and the clubs will be more
stable economically.
Football as a sport has changed from a sport to a
business. People make money on football, and not just the players, managers,
staff etc. There are so many parts involved in today’s football, and this will
just keep growing, just as the price of players in football will keep growing.
This means that owners will have to dig deeper in their wallets, and higher
transfer fees will be made.
Sources
fifafotballagent.com. (2015, 03 15).
Hentet fra fifafotballagent.com:
http://www.fifafootballagent.co.uk/wpb/2011/01/31/football-transfer-who-profits/
Thenewshub.com. (2015, 03 15).
Hentet fra thenewshub.com:
https://www.the-newshub.com/football/impact-of-owners-in-football-clubs
Transfer steps. (2015, 03
15). Hentet fra Transfer steps:
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/how-transfer-deals-really-work-8541712
Wikipedia. (2015, 03
11). Hentet fra
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transfer_%28association_football%29
