Transfers are one of the most exciting but controversial aspects of football and legendary former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger now believes a worrying trend is emerging.
Liverpool supporters are at present mourning the departure of Trent Alexander-Arnold with the Scouser deciding to leave the club at the end of the season after spending 20 years at the club.
He has been a Red since his first days with the Academy but after winning every trophy possible with the club, including the Premier League twice, he is set to leave to become a Galactico with Real Madrid.
Fans of rival clubs and journalists online have tried to tell Liverpool supporters how to feel about it. While most fans don’t bear him ill will, the loyalty he enjoyed as a Liverpool player is now gone that he has decided to leave the club.
The aspect that is most frustrating is the decision to leave at the expiry of his contract and not last summer when Liverpool could have earned a fee from his exit. Elite players often do this because, understandably, it means they can demand a much bigger signing bonus and higher wages on a longer contract.
While all is fair in love and war, it’s one occurence in what Arsene Wenger has identified as being part of a bigger more concerning pattern that is emerging in the European market.
Transfers at the upper echelons of the spectrum are now moving in a new direction and Real Madrid are spearheading this change
A report from Marca, while primarily centred around Real Madrid’s interest in Dean Huijsen but reluctant withdrawal from the race to sign the Spaniard, hinted at a more insidious transfer tactic they are actively implementing.
After successfully tapping up Alexander-Arnold, they are seeking to continue in that vein with Ibrahima Konate, whose contract expires at the end of next season with no guarantee he will sign a new deal in the interim.
The report states: “Other names that have appeared on the Real Madrid horizon are Konaté and Saliba , but the two French internationals belong to that group of players that Real Madrid is monitoring and that are waiting for the end of their contracts to approach, a circumstance that will happen in the summer of 2026 for the Liverpool centre-back, and in 2027 for the Arsenal defender.”
Arsene Wenger analyses how transfers are set to change in Europe – potentially forever
This transformation was likely triggered in the era that saw PSG sign Neymar for €222m which then saw Barcelona pay £142m to replace him which saw Liverpool spend £75m on van Dijk and Alisson.
While the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea spend recklessly with little to no evidence of long-term planning, it’s no surprise to see Madrid avoid spending on transfer fees if they can help it but telling players to run their deals down is worrying.
Speaking as a pundit on beIN Sports, Wenger said: “I believe that it shows the trend of transfers now, and it shows a new trend in the game.
“There is no transfer anymore for the big, big players. They go all at the end of their contract because the wages are so high that [if] you want to buy Marcel [Desailly] today you have to give him so much money that you cannot pay the transfer anymore.
“So what do the big clubs do? They say two years before the end of a contract we want to buy you, we give you these wages and we will try to make an offer to the club.
“If it doesn’t work, we come back next year and if it doesn’t work then, we will take you for free. That is what they [Real Madrid ] did with [Kylian] Mbappe as well.”
