It may appear that the Premier League has not been badly affected by the worldwide financial crisis with huge amounts of money still being spent on players throughout the division. In just the current transfer window over £300m has been spent on new players but this year there is one difference. The majority of the big signings have been dominated by young, talented players who have potential resale value. I think this is the result of the difficult financial times we are facing with clubs looking to get more value out of potential signings.
At Liverpool, Director of Football, Damien Comolli, who was recruited from St Eitenne, has brought with him a modus operandi of buying young talent to ensure maximum resale value when/if they are sold on. This is part of looking at cost effective options in a tough financial tiems that also adheres to the owner’s long term plans. When Comolli was working at Tottenham just some of the players he signed for the club included Gareth Bale, Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Luka Modric and Roman Pavlychenko as well as bringing last season’s Premier League top goal scorer Dimitar Berbatov to English football. He has now brought this policy to Anfield and although the club may have paid over the odds for this young English talent, in the future they will surely bear the fruits of his labour.
There is evidence of a similar transfer policy now in place at Manchester United with this summer’s signings including Phil Jones, 19, David De Gea, 20 and the oldest being Ashley Young at 26. They now have a policy of signing players under 26 who will have a significant resale value, the days of spending big money on older players has gone at Old Trafford, it is now all about developing youth players who fit the criteria with resale value.
All I have to say on this is how old is Bellamy?
Bill all I have to say on that is how much was his transfer fee? Plus he apparently took huge paycut. Older players who bring much needed experience to these young squads but who cost nothing to sign and are willing to play on lower wages definitely fit in with the strategy the article is talking about!
Yea Bill that was a poor comment