Huge risk in signing overpriced English players

Liverpool are widely expected to be very active in the transfer market as they continue their rebuilding process under Kenny Dalglish. It has been reported that the Merseyside outfit are looking to bring in home grown players, most notably Stewart Downing, Jordan Henderson and Gary Cahill; but over recent years the cost of English players has risen dramatically with the minimum expenditure on one player being around the £15 million mark. While it is commendable for Liverpool to looking to English talent,  is it really a good way for Liverpool’s owners to spend their money?
 
There is no argument that Liverpool do need to sign players in the positions they are looking at, Sotiris Kyrgiakos isn’t up to the Kop faithful’s high standards, Jordan Henderson is being lined up as Gerrard’s replacement in the middle of the park and Liverpool have been crying out for an out and out winger like Downing all season. I would argue that Juan Mata of Valencia provides better value for money than Downing, especially with the Spaniard’s Champions League and World Cup experience. Gary Cahill has had a solid season but not overly consistent season with Bolton, why not make a move for Christopher Samba who is available at £10 million and has been a solid performer for Blackburn for three seasons and Stevie G will still be around in five years time minimum, why the desire to splash silly amounts of cash out on Jordan Henderson, who has had one quality game against Chelsea.
 
If you look at the big money moves over the last few years of English players to the ‘bigger’ clubs, Michael Carrick to Manchester United for a reported £18.6 million, Gareth Barry cost Man City £12 million and James Milner nearly double what they paid for Barry. My point is, although we take each individual player on his own divine talent and ability to succeed, the fact that so many English players have moved for huge fees and lets face, it hardly justified such extortionate sums of money, means Liverpool would be taking a huge risk in signing the above mentioned players, despite impressive seasons.
 
Buying English, although commendable, just isn’t right for Liverpool or if I’m honest any of the ‘big’ teams, at the moment. Overpriced, over hyped and then ultimately they under perform…a slightly harsh assessment? Not in the slightest.


http://www.footballfancast.com/2011/06/football-blogs/liverpools-transfer-plans-are-commendable-but-foolish

You forget the most important factor. What happens when the Home Grown rule kicks in to full effect?

It's the main reason why British players are over priced. We are buying British so that we have the beat if them for the future.

Surely it's a "huge risk" signing any player? . ...they're either going to turn out to be sh*te or they're not.

Huge risk in any signing player to be honest, there has been just as many none English flops as there has been English flops.

To some degree there is a bigger risk with a continental signing as there is no guarantee they are going to adjust to the league, area and culture.

Agree with the article, you are massively overpaying for average English players

Surely it's a "huge risk" signing any player? . ...they're either going to turn out to be sh*te or they're not.

In a nutshell is that comment. What a stupid article!. Every signing is a risk, whether they cost £50 million or £1 million. They are speculative investments.

Agree with the article, you are massively overpaying for average English players

What's this F***ing "you"

It's "we".

What's this f**king "you"

It's "we".

I think he means if any team, not just us, goes after an average English player you are going to be paying way over the odds.

There is a English tax when you or we buy English players, look at some of the price of some of the English players sold the last few years Carroll £35 million Milner £24 million Lescott £24 million Ferdinand £30 million Bent £24 million.

Another one is look at Ozil last Summer after a brilliant world cup went to Real for £12 million because he was in the last year of his contract will someone please explain to me why Young who is in the same situation as Ozil was in relation to his contract is going to go for more.

Was talking about any team huyton

I think he means if any team, not just us, goes after an average English player you are going to be paying way over the odds.

Should of threw in a smilie really!

But it's been like that for the last ten years.

Do you remember how much Chelsea payed for Scott Parker? £10 million and he was way overpriced then.

So nothing has really changed has it, except the transfer fees have got more obscene.

I think the 'huge risk' means that it's a bigger risk because of the chance of losing more money. We would be spending a lot less if we were buying a player of similar skill, though any nationality except English.

English players are definitely overpriced these days. And I for one aren't overly excited at the prospect of Downing, Henderson, Cahill, Cattermole etc. I think Ashley Young is better than Downing, and the other 3 I don't think we should be looking at when there's better talent out there. We will be paying more than necessary because they're English.

Meh, Ferdinand cost 29.1 million and that was TEN years ago. Carrick, Anderson and Nani were around the 17 million mark and they are hardly world class. Hargreaves was 18 million and he's hardly played. Berbatov was 30 million and he's nowhere near Torres a couple of years ago. Even Ronaldo was overpriced .. 13 million for an 18 year old? Carroll is also overpriced but we had not much choice with the window closing quickly.

Makes me feel Suarez, Torres and Alonso were so damn cheap.

So, IMO, 15 million for players like Henderson, Young and such may be overpriced but that's just how the rate goes, IMO.

As much as I hate to admit it, money helps. It won't guarantee success but it surely helps.

There is a English tax when you or we buy English players, look at some of the price of some of the English players sold the last few years Carroll £35 million Milner £24 million Lescott £24 million Ferdinand £30 million Bent £24 million.

Is it really a tax though?

Or other teams knowing the buying team has money and tries to rinse them for every penny. Or the buying team, in the case of City paying way over the odds to stop other teams getting involved in auctions.

Carroll was way overpriced, but Newcastle had an idea we were selling Torres for big money and decided to cash in.

As for Utd buying Ferdinand, Ferguson was had off by Leeds, but again it's just about a club cashing in. Had Ferguson not been as thick as he is, he could of had Rio for £12 million originally from West Ham, but felt in his words "didn't need Ferdinand, because I've got Wes Brown and he's going top be the best defender in the world"

And it's a bit stupid trying to compare to Real isn't it. Any player would want to move to Real, so if they come in for a player, they know they don't have to pay full whack as the player will push for a move and the selling club will sell because they don't want a bad influence at the club.

It's just like Serie A in the 80s really, clubs just valuing players at ridiculous prices and some clubs continue paying those valuations. Hopefully the Premier League will go bust just like Serie A nearly did and these obscene fees will get fu**ed off.

But as there is that much money floating around the league, nothing is gonna change soon.

A player is worth what a team is willing to pay for him, simple as.  Whether that worth is linked to his ability, especially with English players is a highly debatable issue.  Reminds me of the saying

"You can please all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot please all the people all the time."

Though with transfer targets and reading through many a Liverpool forum, I think it's probably fairer to say that "You can please some people, none of the time" and they know who they are, don't you?

Did Real not have to pay full whack for Kaka Ronaldo Benzema etc. They all wanted to go there. I'm baffled how Young can go for more than Ozil does Young not want to go as well.

You only to look at the prices being bandied about for some English players to see how ridiculous the English transfer market is, £20 million for Cahill a lad with one cap that was sold for peanuts by Villa a couple of years ago, Ipswich looking for £10 million plus for a young striker who has an extremely average goal return, Southampton looking for £15 million for a young lad completely unproven, Sunderland looking for £20 million for Henderson a lad who has a long long way to go before he can be considered top class, Villa looking for £17 million for Downing, Spurs wanting £50 million for Bale. Everton wanting £25 million for Rodwell. I could on and on buying English doesn't work for 2 reasons, the price you have to pay and to be honest most English players are extremely average to be honest.

I suppose there is another way of looking at "overpriced English players".

With all the English lads we have in the Academy/Reserves we can make a fortune when we sell them to buy the much more talented and cheaper foreign players that some people would prefer us to have 

Don't care where the players come from as long if there good enough to play for the club. I'd prefer to see the club buy say a Spanish lad of the same quality as an English lad for half the price if it means the rest of the money can be invested elsewhere. A players nationality should mean F**k all, it is about quality and value sadly where the English players fall down

 I do not believe there is a risk in signing English players, the player knows the league, should settle quicker, no problems with language (que jokes) There are lots of benefits to signing English players
 I would say the risk we are taking is in signing young players.

there is definatly a excessive price on english player but club will need home grown talent for europe .at least fsg are willing to spend on players for now and the future so thats good they might pay over the odds for certain players but am sure they know what they are doing .also no debt as such so can afford to spend a bit extra at start of project get it all set up for future success also if england ever do well in any tournament just imagine how much we would earn in shirt sales if we had 3,4,5, players in team the players would nearly pay for themselves
so i say spend a bit now and reap the rewards later

There is a reason that young British players are apparently 'overpriced', it is because they have become an almost forgotten breed. They are a rare commodity in the heavily foreign influenced Premier League and that is such a sad thing to say, but it's true. While the Premier League created a new era in modern football it also lost its working class roots to some extent. The British players that we all identified with slowly petered out onto the periphery, not completely, but significantly.

Nobody can doubt that the influx of foreigners into the Premier League has probably made it the most exciting League in the world, but at what cost ultimately?. The Premier League has undoubtedly had a negative impact on young home grown talent, yet Kenny is tapping into a market that he has great knowledge of. Did Rafa or Roy throw the youngsters in during their tenures?, no, they felt that they were too big a gamble or risk. If a player is good enough then he is old enough, Kenny knows this and doesn't even see it as a risk.

To reiterate, the fact that exciting and talented young British players are overpriced is because they have become a rare commodity which will ultimately push the price up, as would the scarcity of any commodity.

I love some foreign players, many have graced the Anfield turf during my time as a Liverpool supporter. I'm not against foreigners in the Premier League but i think there should be a balance, unfortunately over the last decade or so that balance has become very one sided.

If i had the choice of a team containing more homegrown players than foreign players then i would choose homegrown everytime. At the very least i would expect a healthy balance. That's not me being nationalistic, that's me wanting to return to our roots. If that means us investing heavily in homegrown talent then so be it, even if it does cost more money.

End of the day Kenny has unearthed some Gems in his time, so I think we should just let him get on with his business if it doesn't work out Kenny will be the first person to hold up his hands and say "I got it wrong".

There are risks with any player signed foreign or not, Burdog mentions players like Carrick(average), Milner(avaerage) and Barry(decent) those three were probably considered among the best at the time but certainly not now, especially Barry & Milner who went for the dollar rather than the cause, personally iv'e never rated Carrick and considered him a poor mans Lampard,( no disrespect to the poor), English players will always be overpriced because the skill levels required in the EPL are so high, and that continental players are more accustomed to that level of play, there are more continental players in the EPL than English players and that can't be right, so when a above average English player shows he is better than most his valuation goes thru the roof,

is Carroll really worth £35m ? is Cahill worth £20m, is Henderson worth £20m, no they are not, no where near IMO, what have they proven, F**k all thats what, they are good players with lots of potential that have had their valuations bumped by their respective agents/clubs.

There is a solution to all this. We are in the midst of a youth system overhaul. In the event that this is a success, so far the signs are positive, then we can afford to gamble on more expensive players. English ones will cost more, but then they are less likely to look for a move to Spain thus losing vital cogs in our squad. Personally I'm glad to see us linked to quality young players and not over the hill squad fillers

There is a solution to all this. We are in the midst of a youth system overhaul. In the event that this is a success, so far the signs are positive, then we can afford to gamble on more expensive players. English ones will cost more, but then they are less likely to look for a move to Spain thus losing vital cogs in our squad. Personally I'm glad to see us linked to quality young players and not over the hill squad fillers

Agreed mate. 

Just think how much we can get for our young players that don't make LFC standard.  So long as they've had some PL experience with us we can ask for low £m's instead of a few hundred grand.

Exactly Debs. We give the likes of Spearing, Flanagan and Robinson a few years. If they work fantastic. If they don't then it's millions not thousands because of the experience they have. Save our money for first team stars and promote our own. I would love to see our current crop of youth team internationals given the chance. I have no doubt they will. Then teams will be falling over themselves to make us offers

English players do cost more, but also guess what?

They sell for more as well

Exactly Debs. We give the likes of Spearing, Flanagan and Robinson a few years. If they work fantastic. If they don't then it's millions not thousands because of the experience they have. Save our money for first team stars and promote our own. I would love to see our current crop of youth team internationals given the chance. I have no doubt they will. Then teams will be falling over themselves to make us offers

And that has a knock on effect of the best young players in England wanting to come to our Academy in the future 

 

50 mill for Torres
30 mill for Berbatov
30 mill for Shevchenko
30 mill for Veron
25 mill for Dzeko

Not exactly exclusive to British players is it? Lets be honest, there's as many average players from abroad going for high prices such as us selling Sissoko for 11 million, same as we sold Crouch for and less than what we paid for Alonso.

The fact that football is a joke nowadays means sh*t players will cost more and in a domino effect meaning average players will cost more and top class players will cost more. That's the way football is now. It's nothing to do with nationality, it's about football. Take Dani Pacheco for example, what would be the price people would want for him? Doubt many would accept two or three million. But in the same breath we're complaining about having to pay 10 million for Ipswich for Wickham.

We've supposedly put 8 million on Ngog. A back up forward who won't improve too much from here on in. Ipswich are putting the same price on their number one forward who has the potential to be a clinical Premiership finisher. It's a lot more than a players nationality. It's what a player means to a club and the fact that football has gone mad.

The fact that people think another human being is worth this sort of money is sickening. Fucks sake, might as well just go back to selling slaves in a market place. That's all clubs are doing now.

There's people defending their countries with their life every day, there's people ensuring the streets we walk at night are safe, there's people who save lives and bring new lives into the world every day, there's people cleaning the streets, there's people ensuring we can cross a road safely, there's people ensuring we have milk, eggs, meat on our plates. And every F***ing one of them is worth more than some tit who kicks a bag of air around a field for 90 minutes.

I'm disgusted by what football has become. It is no longer a sport. It's a F***ing disgrace. And until somebody steps in and actually puts a stop to it all then the longer it's gonna go on.

50 mill for Torres
30 mill for Berbatov
30 mill for Shevchenko
30 mill for Veron
25 mill for Dzeko

Not exactly exclusive to British players is it? Lets be honest, there's as many average players from abroad going for high prices such as us selling Sissoko for 11 million, same as we sold Crouch for and less than what we paid for Alonso.

The fact that football is a joke nowadays means sh*t players will cost more and in a domino effect meaning average players will cost more and top class players will cost more. That's the way football is now. It's nothing to do with nationality, it's about football. Take Dani Pacheco for example, what would be the price people would want for him? Doubt many would accept two or three million. But in the same breath we're complaining about having to pay 10 million for Ipswich for Wickham.

We've supposedly put 8 million on Ngog. A back up forward who won't improve too much from here on in. Ipswich are putting the same price on their number one forward who has the potential to be a clinical Premiership finisher. It's a lot more than a players nationality. It's what a player means to a club and the fact that football has gone mad.

The fact that people think another human being is worth this sort of money is sickening. Fucks sake, might as well just go back to selling slaves in a market place. That's all clubs are doing now.

There's people defending their countries with their life every day, there's people ensuring the streets we walk at night are safe, there's people who save lives and bring new lives into the world every day, there's people cleaning the streets, there's people ensuring we can cross a road safely, there's people ensuring we have milk, eggs, meat on our plates. And every f**king one of them is worth more than some tit who kicks a bag of air around a field for 90 minutes.

I'm disgusted by what football has become. It is no longer a sport. It's a f**king disgrace. And until somebody steps in and actually puts a stop to it all then the longer it's gonna go on.

Hit the nail on the head Billy!

A stand and applaud that post. I've thought it for awhile now.

At the moment, WE have very promising young English talent. Flano, Kelly, Spearing, Robbo, Shelvey...if they had been playing for a lesser side this season then they would now all have ridiculous price tags on thier heads. If we manage to sign a few more young, hungry players who want to make a name for themselves rather than pick up thier wage packet every week then we are in with a shout of building a team that is capable to challange for top honours for years. This is the way to go about it and I have faith in Kenny. It is not as big of a risk signing young english players as they will sell on for a decent price, foriegn flops on the other hand will not.

There is no argument that Liverpool do need to sign players in the positions they are looking at, Sotiris Kyrgiakos isn’t up to the Kop faithful’s high standards, Jordan Henderson is being lined up as Gerrard’s replacement in the middle of the park and Liverpool have been crying out for an out and out winger like Downing all season. I would argue that Juan Mata of Valencia provides better value for money than Downing, especially with the Spaniard’s Champions League and World Cup experience. Gary Cahill has had a solid season but not overly consistent season with Bolton, why not make a move for Christopher Samba who is available at £10 million and has been a solid performer for Blackburn for three seasons and Stevie G will still be around in five years time minimum, why the desire to splash silly amounts of cash out on Jordan Henderson, who has had one quality game against Chelsea.

Agreed fully here.

The fact that people think another human being is worth this sort of money is sickening. Fucks sake, might as well just go back to selling slaves in a market place. That's all clubs are doing now.

There's people defending their countries with their life every day, there's people ensuring the streets we walk at night are safe, there's people who save lives and bring new lives into the world every day, there's people cleaning the streets, there's people ensuring we can cross a road safely, there's people ensuring we have milk, eggs, meat on our plates. And every F***ing one of them is worth more than some tit who kicks a bag of air around a field for 90 minutes.

I'm disgusted by what football has become. It is no longer a sport. It's a F***ing disgrace. And until somebody steps in and actually puts a stop to it all then the longer it's gonna go on.

Amen Billy!

Quality post.

50 mill for Torres
30 mill for Berbatov
30 mill for Shevchenko
30 mill for Veron
25 mill for Dzeko

Not exactly exclusive to British players is it? Lets be honest, there's as many average players from abroad going for high prices such as us selling Sissoko for 11 million, same as we sold Crouch for and less than what we paid for Alonso.

The fact that football is a joke nowadays means sh*t players will cost more and in a domino effect meaning average players will cost more and top class players will cost more. That's the way football is now. It's nothing to do with nationality, it's about football. Take Dani Pacheco for example, what would be the price people would want for him? Doubt many would accept two or three million. But in the same breath we're complaining about having to pay 10 million for Ipswich for Wickham.

We've supposedly put 8 million on Ngog. A back up forward who won't improve too much from here on in. Ipswich are putting the same price on their number one forward who has the potential to be a clinical Premiership finisher. It's a lot more than a players nationality. It's what a player means to a club and the fact that football has gone mad.

The fact that people think another human being is worth this sort of money is sickening. Fucks sake, might as well just go back to selling slaves in a market place. That's all clubs are doing now.

There's people defending their countries with their life every day, there's people ensuring the streets we walk at night are safe, there's people who save lives and bring new lives into the world every day, there's people cleaning the streets, there's people ensuring we can cross a road safely, there's people ensuring we have milk, eggs, meat on our plates. And every f**king one of them is worth more than some tit who kicks a bag of air around a field for 90 minutes.

I'm disgusted by what football has become. It is no longer a sport. It's a f**king disgrace. And until somebody steps in and actually puts a stop to it all then the longer it's gonna go on.

Great post!.

50 mill for Torres
30 mill for Berbatov
30 mill for Shevchenko
30 mill for Veron
25 mill for Dzeko

Not exactly exclusive to British players is it? Lets be honest, there's as many average players from abroad going for high prices such as us selling Sissoko for 11 million, same as we sold Crouch for and less than what we paid for Alonso.

The fact that football is a joke nowadays means sh*t players will cost more and in a domino effect meaning average players will cost more and top class players will cost more. That's the way football is now. It's nothing to do with nationality, it's about football. Take Dani Pacheco for example, what would be the price people would want for him? Doubt many would accept two or three million. But in the same breath we're complaining about having to pay 10 million for Ipswich for Wickham.

We've supposedly put 8 million on Ngog. A back up forward who won't improve too much from here on in. Ipswich are putting the same price on their number one forward who has the potential to be a clinical Premiership finisher. It's a lot more than a players nationality. It's what a player means to a club and the fact that football has gone mad.

The fact that people think another human being is worth this sort of money is sickening. Fucks sake, might as well just go back to selling slaves in a market place. That's all clubs are doing now.

There's people defending their countries with their life every day, there's people ensuring the streets we walk at night are safe, there's people who save lives and bring new lives into the world every day, there's people cleaning the streets, there's people ensuring we can cross a road safely, there's people ensuring we have milk, eggs, meat on our plates. And every f**king one of them is worth more than some tit who kicks a bag of air around a field for 90 minutes.

I'm disgusted by what football has become. It is no longer a sport. It's a f**king disgrace. And until somebody steps in and actually puts a stop to it all then the longer it's gonna go on.

Quality post that DLS.

My opinion is that even though these young kids may be English and thus over inflated pricewise, they are at least very very good quality players despite the fact they're of a very young age. Under our coaches they're only going to get better and better and if laying out say £10 million on Wickham now means we can sell him in 5 years or so at £30million then fill your boots i say.

They were all supposed to be top internationals when signed, the prices being bandied about for English players is insane especially when some of them are extremely limited  or unproven. Agree with the rest of your post though

Quality post that DLS.

My opinion is that even though these young kids may be English and thus over inflated pricewise, they are at least very very good quality players despite the fact they're of a very young age. Under our coaches they're only going to get better and better and if laying out say £10 million on Wickham now means we can sell him in 5 years or so at £30million then fill your boots i say.

I've already said it mate, it's not just English/British players that are overpriced. Most clubs around the world are gonna lash hefty price tags on their better players and certainly on their best young talent in order to keep other clubs off them so the players current club can reap the rewards of the players ability.

Many foreign lads cost through the nose as well. It's not exclusive to British players and people who believe it is need their heads testing. We're linked with Wickham for 10 million, try and sign Lasogga from Hertha Berlin and see how much they want for him. (Just Googled Germany's U-21s and picked a forward at random by the way, I haven't a clue who Lasogga is or if Hertha are a decent German side).

But I doubt they're gonna let their young star forward go on the cheap either. So it's not exclusive to British players. It's natural to over value your own property, especially those that you think will become valuable in the future.

You could argue that we've seen this before. Back when UEFA made a rule that you had to have some many 'home nation' players in your European cup squad Souness, desperate to win the trophy as a manager, sold good 'foreign players' like Houghton and Staunton and bought average englishmen like Walters and Thomas. You could almost trace this back as the start of our decline. I've also asked this before but when did the game change so much that you can no longer buy a good player for peanuts from Crewe, Northampton. Doncaster, Partick Thistle, Wrexham  etc and turn them into legends, you have to buy a £10m player from Croatia or Belarussia that no one had heard of?

Looking at the England game yesterday the only player I felt was any good, and would have was Leighton Baines!

I think all players are risks in the current climate. There are very few bankers especially in the long term.

So is it worth the gamble? Depends on if you want to win with English Players.

Generally English players are poor, if they were not they be playing abroad, Yes?

English players are not comfortable on the ball. The are taught from a very young age win at all costs. Look at brazil its all about skill and fun.

that's an interesting point. Totally different sport I know but I was listening to the cricket earlier and the point was made that if Muralitharan had been English he would have had his 'unusual' action coached out of him.

that's an interesting point. Totally different sport I know but I was listening to the cricket earlier and the point was made that if Muralitharan had been English he would have had his 'unusual' action coached out of him.

You mean he wouldn't of been allowed to chuck the ball had he been English?

The way to solve the problem - start young and look far and wide. If you buy young talent, have a fantastic youth system and build on your own club from the bottom grassroots level then we will be the beneficiaries and not the burgled over these ridiculous prices.

Been thinking about this topic for a while. I did think it was just English priced players that are overpriced but thinking about it, I think any player from the premier league is overpriced or expensive, doesn't matter if there English or not. Very very rare to get a good value buy from another premier league club. I think English players are more expensive from premier league clubs but you can get good value for English player from lower league clubs.

Every Liverpool fan is sick of the Likes of Poulsen,Ngog, Jovanovic, Dossena etc. No one wants any more cheap, old, crap foreign players. King Kenny knows what he's doing!

Fantastic post DLS. Completely agree that the money in football has gotten beyond a pisstake now.

Aside from that, I feel it is actually the homegrown rules that are going to see us suffer more than anything. I'm bothered about being forced to buy players with a certain nationality.

It's bad enough that the English national team has won F**k all for years and probably still won't despite a fair amount of good players. Imagine if we played in the Azerbaijan Barclays Premier League? We'd be goosed.

Beside the fact that I'm not bothered about how the national team is doing, I actually don't think the rules will make a blind bit of difference.

I hate this whole complaining that we paid 35 million pounds for Carroll bs. Technically we received 15 million plus Carroll for Torres. Henry even said "The price of Carroll dictated the price of Torres to Chelsea."

We've set a dangerous precedent by paying £35M for Carroll. No matter if they're English or not (although English players tend to cost more, even more now with HG rules), I can't see anyone asking us a reasonable and fair price while the last player we signed we paid 3 times what he was worth.

Personally I'm not concerned if the players we buy are English, as long as they improve our squad, but it stands to reason that English players will have a better understanding of the English game, so I can see the logic on going home grown

We signed an over-rated English player for free just last summer.... that hsant exactly worked out either.

 The club takes a risk when they sign any player irrespective of their nationality,the player has to fit in with new team mates and a different training regime.Also if his family do not settle in the area it can make it difficult for the player,lets face it if a player has to go home to a wife who is constantly moaning because she cannot settle he is hardly likely to produce his best football for the club..

Exactly Diego, I see Sunderland fans saying they want £25 million for Henderson if we paid £35 million for Carroll. We did not pay £15 million for Carroll so if Torres had gone for £70 million would we have paid £55 million for Carroll. We should have waited till the Summer

DLS pointed it out there.

Football has gone mad.

IMO, the biggest culprits are Man United. 30 million for Ferdinand and that was 10 years ago. Cristiano Ronaldo .. 13 million for an 18 year old.

Carrick, Nani, Anderson and Hargreaves hitting the 18 million mark (and Rafa got stick for signing an "injured" Aquilani) and they were bought back in 2006-2008. Berbatov for 30 million and he isn't half the player Torres was. Didn't he also throw 12 million quid on Bebe?

But I guess no one says anything as long as your winning.

Tbh, I think Uniteds £13M move for Ronaldo seems decent value now

A player is worth what a club is willing to pay. If a player is not for sale then you can expect to have to pay a premium to persuade his club to part with him.

Steve Bruce for example is not in a great rush to sell Henderson to us (of all clubs the fat headed c**t) so it will take a bigger offer to tempt him to sell.

As for football gone mad, I don't buy into that theory. Footballers get paid a percentage of the wealth they create. 

A risk? Why is it anymore of risk signing an English bloke than a foreigner? I guess you mean the fee? Well thats not a risk, it just means you pay a premimum price & we all no why. Indeed there are a few reasons from the home grown rule, to clubs not liking to strengthen the home competition. Very obvious as to why the market is driven in such away.

Its very easy to say flippantly that its so silly paying £12M for Barry when we only paid just over 10M for Alonso. Some signings go on to succeed & some fail, doesnt matter where they are from. No one has a crystal ball, just a feeling about a player. Its so easy to ask why didnt we sign so & so when they were young before that other club did, or why did we sign so & so as he hasnt fitted in. Its all about the theory & sometimes in practice theory doesnt work.

Things, be they works of art or people in demand command fee's & thats in theory how much they are worth. If you dont agree with the valuation thats fine, but if someones willing to pay the fee then thats their lookout. That doesnt mean you have to agree with it or that represents true value. Footballers pay, along with that of filmstars & other talented people is based on what unique talent that person brings to the party. Same can be said about high powered business men & of course the dreaded people that ruined the world (not) the bankers. Low paid jobs are what they are as lets be honest anyone can do those job if they want to, well most people (of course there are some thick people that struggle to tie shoelaces) If the right application is set about then most could be a nurse, drive a truck, fight in the army & so on, hence the low wage. Indeed at a guess I would say that those jobs could be done (or at least one of them) by every poster on this forum. How many could play top flight football or be a film star? At a guess, that will be none then.

IMO, the biggest culprits are Man United. 30 million for Ferdinand and that was 10 years ago. Cristiano Ronaldo .. 13 million for an 18 year old.

Both bargins when you think about it. Very fair fee's for both players. You can go back to Blackburn paying 15M for Shearer or even Forest paying £1m for Francis. Madrid, Milan etc along with Chelsea & now City have all be as much to blame, as indeed have we & every other big club.

Tbh, I think Uniteds £13M move for Ronaldo seems decent value now

A player is worth what a club is willing to pay. If a player is not for sale then you can expect to have to pay a premium to persuade his club to part with him.

Steve Bruce for example is not in a great rush to sell Henderson to us (of all clubs the fat headed c**t) so it will take a bigger offer to tempt him to sell.

As for football gone mad, I don't buy into that theory. Footballers get paid a percentage of the wealth they create. 

Great post

Both bargins when you think about it. Very fair fee's for both players. You can go back to Blackburn paying 15M for Shearer or even Forest paying £1m for Francis. Madrid, Milan etc along with Chelsea & now City have all be as much to blame, as indeed have we & every other big club.

You mean Newcastle!

Blackburn bought Shearer for £3.3 million.

Paying big money cant guarantee anything.

16 million for Owen. 2005.    The arrival of the saviour to ToonLand.

What did happen was ....

The compensation claim by Newcastle included the £10m cost of buying Owen's replacement, Obafemi Martins, £6.2m towards Owen's salary costs while injured, the possibility of long-term damage to Owen's fitness and ability, the loss of league position and cup competition progress, depreciation of Owen's four-year contract, and the cost of medical treatment for Owen. In February 2007 Fifa made Newcastle a "final offer" of £1m. By April 2007, Newcastle were threatening to take out an injunction to stop the FA picking Owen for England games. The club finally reached a compromise settlement figure with Fifa and the FA. Fifa indicated that the settlement was between £6m and £7m. The club, stating that Owen's wages had "now been paid in full", stated the overall compensation achieved totalled £10m.

A mess.

Owen did all right  Got paid. Now he is with his soul mate Fergie in Mickey O heaven.

Exactly Diego, I see Sunderland fans saying they want £25 million for Henderson if we paid £35 million for Carroll. We did not pay £15 million for Carroll so if Torres had gone for £70 million would we have paid £55 million for Carroll. We should have waited till the Summer

Yeah mate, I agree... all this talk about 'the transfer fee doesn't matter' that has been around here, with all the respect, is bullshit... we've been complaining about Chelsea and Man City distorting prices for ages, but that's just what we've done last window... the first window in which we had a truly healthy owner. Now we're going to deal with our own mess, any club will ask at least twice what their players are worth, unless they are in a difficult position such as the contract of the player is nearing its end and/or the players wants to leave.

You mean Newcastle!

Blackburn bought Shearer for £3.3 million.

Doh! What a plank

Yep of course, glad to see you knew what I meant. The Blackburn money was decent enough in those days as well.

And before anyone moans & cries off complaining. Those 3 posts above were not all done at the same time. Its when they got cleared by mods. I couldn't know when they would appear & tbh I had forgotton that I had posted 1 - of course it isnt there for me to see when I look back until its cleared.


Bsng on the money as well Diego

Agree with most posts on here about player pricing ,it has got completely out of control with the likes of Abramovic,and Man city's sheik ,to them the cost means nothing ,it's about winning trophies and plaudits, why are British players so expensive? probably because outstanding talent is as rare as shark sh*t ! i'd much rather have reasonably priced players but then again we all want success now and not in 10 years time , so all in all success breeds profit which inflates prices !

 Signing "overpriced" players from England or anywhere else is a bad idea. Signing players which are "underpriced" is the way to go. The problem though is that when you buy them, you've got no real way of knowing whether they are going to end up being "overpriced" or "underpriced".

 When Tottenham paid a few mill for Gareth Bale and a few mill for Roman Pavlucenco, there wasn't a sticker on either of them saying "don't buy this bloke, he is over/under priced". As it's turned out, Gareth Bale now looks like a steal, whereas the Russian fella looks like he might have been over-priced.

 Some foreign players end up being over priced too. It's the way things are.

I have a question.

How do you know if they are over priced?

Lets take Carroll. £35m is a lot of money, and he was injured. Now what if next year we win the EPL, and he scores 20 goals.

If this were to happen, the the £35m spent would seem good business, no?

I think the prices quoted and paid for players are

1) Greedy and pushing their luck, current form and the "future potential"

2) Trying to pay the least possible.

Just to throw this into the mix. ... Devil's advocate and all that. ... 

* See when 'we' were F***ing whining about "net spend" to defend Benitez, against the F***ing daft claims that H & G had given him money: did 'we' consider that argument to be bullshit or fact?

* Carroll @ £35m + Suarez @ £22.8m = a "net spend" of £1.8m (all of which was L.F.C.'s own money- not 'yours' not 'mine'). ...cue the F***ing big, black, clouds moaning about; Carroll being too dear (on one hand) and F.S.G's low "net spend" (on the other). Bullshit or fact?

* Now we have owners who are prepared to spend - sadly 'we' still find the time and the need to whine. Bullshit or fact?

Just to throw this into the mix. ... Devil's advocate and all that. ... 

* See when 'we' were F***ing whining about "net spend" to defend Benitez, against the F***ing daft claims that H & G had given him money: did 'we' consider that argument to be bullshit or fact?

* Carroll @ £35m + Suarez @ £22.8m = a "net spend" of £1.8m (all of which was L.F.C.'s own money- not 'yours' not 'mine'). ...cue the F***ing big, black, clouds moaning about; Carroll being too dear (on one hand) and F.S.G's low "net spend" (on the other). Bullshit or fact?

* Now we have owners who are prepared to spend - sadly 'we' still find the time and the need to whine. Bullshit or fact?

Its a new begining for me I am just watching and waiting to see who we sign and so far after Carrol and Suarez I am very optimistic.

btw. we have only signed Carroll so far, in terms of over priced english players goes.

So OTT or what.

Rumour's rumours until we actually see somebody in a red shirt.

Don't be surprised to see us signing totally different players to who we are linked with in the press.

To make moves foward, in any walk of life, you HAVE to take risks. It is about assessing whether the risk is worthwhile. Kenny know's what he's doing.

When Kenny signed Shearer for Blackburn for £3.3 million
everybody thought he'd gone mad!
Couple of years later he's on his way to Newcastle for £15 million!
Couple more years down the line us & utd are still trying to pay
ever more for him!

Kenny Knows....

Age is a big factor when you are working out value, if you buy them young then they still have resale value five years down the line, if you buy them 27+ you won't be getting any money back on them and pretty much every penny of the transfer fee was invested in the player.

with the fifa rules coming in round the corner. it will raise the price of young star quality players. but lfc will have to suck it up. transfers are always a risk as there are so many variables in the mix. injuries play such a big part in mix.the latest signing jordan henderson seems to have talent and is durable. sure he has competition but we need depth if we want to be #1. stevie is dropping many games to injuries and could be in the twilight of his long career?.