Monday, June 15, 2009

Criminal Financial Dealings

About a year back, I wrote an entry on this blog about how Marca sells newspapers by publishing false football rumours. Some of these news items materialise into deals, and most don't. While the earlier article talks about the hype rumours create, this one is for the hype, the actual transfers that come through, create.

Yes, Yes everybody knows Real Madrid splashed out 65m Euro for Kaka and 93m for Ronaldo. That's a hell of a lot of money. Now it would be a legitimate question if people ask, why Madrid overpay for their transfers. A possible explanation to that is that, teams know Madrid will pay close to whatever they demand, so they just inflate the transfer fee. This does have its bad effects on the transfer market, yes. What I find ridiculous is, not just fans or players or managers, but the management of several clubs are criticising the Madrid transfer system.

Some facts before you start jumping at me. Clubs in Spain are not owned by individuals, like the case is in England. You have Oil tycoons, Arab Sheikhs, American finance big shots and many more funding the English clubs, whereas in Spain, specifically Real Madrid, no single owner exists. There is a president who is the authority on the business dealings, and Perez being the shrewd businessman that he is, has pulled off some amazing deals. Our money, Our dealings, anything wrong with that?

People often complain, why do Madrid buy superstars of every club, why can't they grow or develop talent like some of the other clubs. The answer to that is pretty complicated. Madrid is a club where patience is unheard of, fans want success all the time. Such is their history and they have every right to be that way. It is not as if they do not produce good kids at all. They don't use them properly, but that's a different issue altogether. People who know the Spanish game will know that Negredo, Granero, Mata, Diego Lopez, all of whom are product of the Real Madrid Castilla, are superstars in the making at lower clubs. Coming back to the point, one way, and the right way in my opinion, to look at the transfers is this. A club X develops a player from its youth system, and his value increases. They do well with him, but after a point, he seeks newer challenges and better avenues for success/money whatever. This is where Real come into the picture. They pay a lavish sum and all parties are happy. X has not much more it can offer to the player, and also end up making a profit on the sale. This is how most transfers to Madrid work. Now your non Madrid big shot clubs, cannot afford such lavish sums, what do they do instead? Steal other clubs' youth talent for dirt cheap sums and 'develop them'. Such is the case with the top 3 players in the world at the moment. Ronaldo was nicked off a Portuguese club, Kaka similarly from a Brazilian club, both at around 18 years of age. Messi, the third was stolen at 12! 12- the kid would not be knowing percentages by then, but Barca recruit him and now call him one of their own. Now which policy is more criminal? You tell me.

10 comments:

Bhargav said...

Steal other clubs' youth talent for dirt cheap sums and 'develop them'.
Justify the quotes.Talent means nothing if it is not developed.

What Madrid is doing is letting other clubs do the dirty work and trying to reap the benefits, for fat sums of money, be as is may.

It makes the difference between creating a piece of art and using affluence to purchase it.

Half-Light said...

clubs' is an apostrophe. 'develop them' is quotes to emphasize how big a deal it is made to be. it's not a big deal to let someone as talented as messi and kaka have a run on the field and get them to produce. they are so talented they will produce anyway.

And read the article carefully. I'm not against the talent that you produce. What I'm against is stealing at a ripe young age and calling them one of their own. What did ManU do to ronaldo? nicked him when he was really young. What did sporting get out of the deal? the ones who truly nurtured him? Very little money.

What real does is pay the club for doing that nurturing. Now tell me, ManU better or Real? with regard to this.

Bhargav said...

Do you think Ronaldo would be the player that he is playing for that Portugese club he came from? Or Kaka or Messi for that matter? Lets say he played for Mohan Bagan, instead of ManU, would he be the same player he is now?

Talent is one thing, moulding that talent into a useful product is another. And that is what big clubs try and do, when they identify a talent.
I think it's perfectly natural.

Half-Light said...

Of course he would be. Take other examples. Look at David Villa, he was great at Zaragosa, great at Valencia too. Another example? Ronaldo - the fat one, was great wherever he went. Nobody really moulded these people as you say.

Half-Light said...

big clubs just showcase these talents more than the smaller clubs they are from. and that is why smaller clubs should be payed the deserved fee for bringing these kids up. stealing is criminal.

bala said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
bala said...

'Perez being the shrewd businessman..'. If this were true he would be doing what the you accuse the other clubs are doing. he'd buy budding players at dirt cheap prices and nurture them.
Sounds a little crass but isn't it cheaper that way?madrid aren't doing anyone any favors by buying players for such ridiculous prices. they're trying to buy out the competition and wasting a lot of in the process. not so smart!

Unknown said...

Perez is a smart businessman becasue

1. He convinces the board to invest huge sums for big bids.

2. He, through the best marketing strategies put forth by any club in the world, manages to reimburse their investment through sponsors and other dealings.

Now thats smart business!

Unknown said...

And for the other part of the argument, neither is stealing. One is reaping the rich benefits of marketing and smart business while the other harvests the benefits of good scouting and training.

As it has been pointed out, a good player needs a good club to be exposed to adequate challenge for his grooming. Messi is a great player because of Barcelona's training through his formative years.

Half-Light said...

Well done Pom, the diplomatic way out again hehe. Good Summary!