With the eccentric wheelings and dealings in the Far East at present coupled with the ridiculous £1.4 billion net spent by the Premier League clubs this campaign so far, there’s no doubt money is becoming rooted at the heart of the beautiful game.
Wealthy clubs from the Chinese Super League are forking out more dosh than they know what to do with. Smaller clubs are developing a dangerous over-independence on big offers coming in, meaning teams are spending more than usual. A player valued at just £5 million two years ago would now cost you triple, if not quadruple that sum.
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To put it into context, fourteen years ago in 2003, Cristiano Ronaldo cost Manchester United £12.24 million, rendering him the most expensive teenager in English football history at the time; it was a modest fee for an explosive talent. Rewind to 2017 and the January transfer window just gone and Crystal Palace splashed out £14 million on full-back Patrick Van Aanholt, a barely comparable addition.
This is surely evidence enough that farcical finance is taking its stranglehold of modern football and it’s not only affecting transfers that have already gone through, but other clubs are now acknowledging this ludicrous inflation and themselves bumping up the valuations of mediocre talents to astronomical asking prices.
Alternatively, there are some individuals of stellar ability which clubs aren’t asking enough for, reiterating that multiple valuations are seriously off-par at both ends of the scale. Here’s a look at five of the most ridiculous ones right now
#1 Moussa Dembele – Celtic - £40 million – Too High
Realistic Value: £20 million
It’s easy to jump onto the back of the roaring Dembele bandwagon; the 20-year-old Frenchman is ripping up the SPL this season, with his hat-trick last Saturday taking him to 12 goals and four assists for the season. He embodies blistering pace, strength on and off the ball and a fiery final finish and in an attempt to reinforce an already mouth-watering frontline this summer, Antonio Conte is rumoured to be lining up a bid for the former Fulham man.
Celtic have explicitly demanded £40 million from Chelsea for the youngster and there are countless problems with such a price-tag. Firstly, by simply employing logic and objectivity, two traits absent from the heating transfer hub at present, we can see that, according to ‘Transfermarkt’, the official valuation of the player is significantly below that at just £2.55 million. Granted, Chelsea may need to pay a little more to tempt Celtic into the sale but £40 million is still a bizarre figure.
Dembele is young and, although he has the potential to be a top-class player, he needs more than a couple of seasons in, mediocre divisions to warrant such a hefty fee. Celtic are flying high at the top of the SPL and he’s receiving plenty of service against very average sides. A switch to the Premier League and all of that could very well change.
#2 Victor Lindelof – Benfica - £50 million – Too High
Realistic Value: £20 million
Manchester United were quiet in the transfer window just gone by but they were closer to a deal than many expected. Jose Mourinho nearly completed a £34.5 million deal for Benfica’s Swedish centre-back Victor Lindelof but pulled out at the last minute. The result? Benfica paid to have the defender’s minimum release clause removed, meaning that the asking price has stepped up to a whopping £50 million should United, or any other side for that matter, wish to purchase the Swede in the summer.
In Liga Portuguesa, Lindelof has progressed well in his first proper season with the Eagles, averaging five defensive actions and a 90% pass completion rate per game. He’s strong on the ground and good in the air while being competent in possession too.
He’d undoubtedly be a promising acquisition for any but £50 million would be a massive gamble, given that he’s only really got just over half a season of consistent top-flight football under his belt.
If any side were to bid the asking price, that would mean the Swedish centre-half would cost them as much as John Stones did Manchester City last summer, which was a hellishly high price-tag for a defender anyway. Lindelof is yet to face a formidable attack of the intensity he would face in the Premier League regularly and needs a few more seasons in Portugal before Benfica can even consider asking for such an amount. ‘Transfermarkt’ only values him at £10.2 million.
#3 William Carvalho – Sporting Lisbon - £26 million – Too Low
Realistic Value: £40 million
In a world where Sunderland defenders are costing close to £15 million (apologies for the frequent Van Aanholt digs), paying £26 million for a midfielder like Carvalho would be considered a bargain.
The Portuguese starlet has been regarded as a youthful gem at Sporting for many years now and was not long ago near the top of Manchester United’s wish list. After a few years of ripening in Portugal’s top flight, the 24-year-old has accumulated experience both domestically and on an international level, playing an integral role of Portugal’s Euro 2016 winning side. If that in its own right boosted didn’t his value, then his consistency at the heart of Lisbon’s midfield certainly has.
Carvalho has easily got a decade left of top-level football in him and it seems we have been anticipating a big move for quite some time, so Sporting should look to cash in as much as they can when the time comes.
#4 Yannick Carrasco (Atletico Madrid) - £85 million – Too High
Realistic Value: £45 million
Young? Yes. Promising? Certainly. In good form? Definitely. Worth £85 million? Not a chance.
The Belgian has been solid this campaign so far, scoring 6 goals in 20 appearances, creating 12 goal-scoring chances along the way. That said, for the Spaniards to put him on par with the likes of Gareth Bale and CR7 with an eccentric release clause does raise a few questions.
It’s not the asking price as such but his release clause. It could be argued that Atletico will sell for less but given that this was only inserted last month, it seems unlikely that the Spaniards want anything significantly lower than £85 million. Rather astonishingly, that price sits just over £50 million higher than his official £34 million valuation laid out by ‘Transfermarkt’.
Carrasco has some experience of top level football and is currently part of an impressive Atletico contingent but is worth nowhere near what the Spaniards are demanding. It seems their valuation stems from the fact they don’t desperately need financial fuel and, if they did, it’d be to fund a deal for a Diego Costa return.
#5 Isco – Real Madrid - £25 million – Too Low
Realistic Value: £40 million
One story of the January transfer window which seemed to fall off the radar was that of Isco’s refusal to extend his contract at the Bernabeu. The Spaniard and former Malaga man's current deal runs to June 2018 and it seems he wants to see out the deal and then move elsewhere as per reports.
Unsurprisingly this has prompted Real Madrid to hit the panic button and slap a very modest £25 million price tag on the midfielder which has attracted interest from Arsenal, Manchester United and even Barcelona. Isco, despite having failed to nail down a regular starting spot at Madrid, remains one of La Liga’s most adept and skilful midfielders, boasting good dribbling abilities and a fine eye for a pass.
He’s won many a trophy in the Spanish capital and is approaching the peak of his career so £25 million seems rather low, especially given that Real Madrid spent marginally over that when they snapped him up four years ago. He’s undoubtedly a better player since then and his value at present according to ‘Transfermarkt’ sits at £29.75 million, so Real Madrid would really be losing out.
