The Evolution of the Transfer Market
While Lionel Messi yarned to be freed from his gilded cage in Barcelona and Gareth Bale yawned his way out of the Real Madrid bench and found solace in Spurs, we cannot help but wonder whether the off-field antics of the transfer market was always a thing. For as early as the 2000s, big transfers were blips on the radar with a handful of established names like a certain Luis Figo or Zinedine Zidane causing a ruckus on the morning newspapers. Fast forward to two decades, and I reckon, Sir Alex Ferguson’s hypothetical “ten pieces of wood” would too manage to churn out decent deals.
For everyone who watched The English Game on Netflix, it must be quite astounding as to how something that was considered immoral, taboo, or even outright illegal, has transcended to one of the biggest aspects of the game. The answer lies in four key words: ‘Shift of bargaining power’. To further elucidate this, let’s embark on a journey of how the transfer market has evolved since the beginning of football and how it has impacted the sport as we know it today.
In the nascent days of football becoming an organized sport back in the late nineteenth century, teams paying players to play professionally was an unfathomable concept and hence deemed illegal. But as the game started to see a rise of influential owners and elites of the society building teams to win trophies, under-the-table payments to the best players all over the world became an obvious consequence. So, transfer agreements were done under the shrouds as well. Thus, the power of luring players to jump ship completely lay on clubs.
The beginning of a proper transfer system was marked when football associations recognized this issue around 1885 and started handing out professional contracts under the “Retain and Transfer rule”. This was more of a buyout clause as seen in today’s game than a proper contract that benefitted both the player and the club. The contract barred the player from moving to other clubs even after the end of the agreed-upon period unless the club in pursuit decided to pay a hefty buyout amount for the player.
Jean-Marc Bosman (center) during the court case in 1995 that changed football forever
The bargaining power tilted towards players after the epoch-making Bosman ruling in 1995. The judgment of the case in favor of Bosman i.e. the players ushered in the transfer rules of the modern day. While player transfer decisions were entirely made by parent clubs in the previous decade, the ruling removed restrictions on foreign EU players within national leagues and allowed players in the EU to move to other clubs at the end of a contract without the buyout amount or transfer fee being paid. This basically meant players could now demand higher wages to stay at the clubs or decide to expire their contracts and move away for free, costing the parent clubs significant loss of money in the process. Therefore, clubs found themselves in a unique position for the very first time when players were not just commodities that could be utilized to maximize profits as the clubs deemed necessary. They started treading on uncharted waters where players held significant bargaining chips.
And the consequence? Enter agents. In this modern era of football, the likes of Mino Raiola, Jorge Mendes, Pini Zahavi, Wagner Ribeiro, and Jonathan Barnett are equally important in the game (if not more in cases) at ensuring the success of clubs. Football stopped being start-all and end-all in the football pitch and brought transfer negotiations to the forefront with these masterful negotiators influencing decisions more than ever before.
This in turn has translated to ridiculously huge transfer amounts. Club owners have to now walk a tightrope in attracting the top talents, retaining their best players while acquiring the future of the clubs- all the while ensuring the success and financial sustainability of the club. So the transfer market is more vibrant than ever spectated in the history of the game.
What does this mean for the future of the sport though? Well, it’s a tough question but the inflated prices of the market are surely increasing the gap in quality for clubs all over the world. While Leicester City and Atalanta B.C. stand out as beaming examples of how success can be achieved without breaking the bank, it is still evident that for long-term success and silverware splashing the cash is a prerequisite. So, unlike the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, it is almost impossible for smaller clubs to be serious title contenders in modern football.
The constant inflation in prices can result in hyperinflation in the near future unless some degree of regulation is undertaken. While we like watching the best franchises get even better, we all love to revel in the title fight of the underdogs which may become obsolete if the transfer market prices are not slowed down. The American transfer system can be an interesting case study considering that the franchises are all allowed limited salary caps to limit certain franchises getting too strong while the bottom teams keep getting weaker. However, given how European football is a lot more competitive in terms of relegation, promotion, and rewards compared to the American version of the sport, even that system will need a lot more adjustments to adapt to the cut-throat nature of European football. That is perhaps a huge conversation altogether so we will leave it at that for this one.
With the summer transfer window wrapped up, we can all breathe out, weigh in the winners and losers, reflect and get back to focusing on the game itself. Will we ever get another transfer window as impactful as this one? Chances are low but only time will tell.
