It has long been argued on here and in many parts of the media that football spending has spiralled out of control, especially when it comes to the astronomical wages paid to Premier League stars. Agents nowadays make outrageous demands in the name of ‘protecting clients interests’, but in reality they are bringing clubs to their knees.
The ex-Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, who is now head of global development at FIFA, is hoping to reduce the agents powers by reintroducing licenses, and more importantly, reducing the percentage of income that clubs can allocate to players’ wages. He said in the Mirror: “I am in favour of limiting the share of the budget of a club dedicated to the players’ payroll. At 50%, for example.
“Half of the club’s budget devoted to player salaries; the other half dedicated to equity and operating costs. At Arsenal, this rule was imposed on us by the banks: we could not exceed a part of our budget in player salaries. But it did not prevent us from paying very large salaries.”
Arsenal themselves currently spend 60% of turnover on wages, and to be fair many EPL clubs are in between the 50% to 60% figures, but there are also a fair number of less successful clubs that are spending well over 70% (or more) to entice players to join them. Crystal Palace, for instance, pay out 78% of their turnover at the moment, but when you think they have just had two months without any turnover at all, you can imagine the problems they will have sustaining these payments. Most clubs do not have a bottomless pit of cash reserves (if any at all).
So Wenger is only talking sense of course, although it does mean that the richer clubs will always be able to offer higher wages than mid-table clubs, but at least they will be limited a little bit more than they are now.
What do you think, Gooners?
He is right but it won’t change much for big clubs but some sense of values will be back to make football a sport and not a business only.
Transfer & wage wont be as nuts as it got for 5 years also.
Man U started this UK buying Pogba for riduclous amount as they do since, last was Maguire!
They almost doubled market price, Pogba should have been 60M the most, forget about Mbappe, ridiculous!
Pandemic shows how clubs are hit, forced to reduce salaries and transfer bids.
We need :
-3 additions, for years now : top CB, a DM, + a playmaker.
– Get rid of bunch of players while we still can.
Out : Luiz, Sokra, Mikhi, Xhaka, Holding, Elneny, Mustafi.
Get 70M.
Swap: Laca for Partey. Torreira + 70M for Koulibaly.
Saves 800k in weekly wages, can pay 300k to Koulibaly, 150k to Partey and raise Auba 50k in a new two years contract. Still saves 200k in weekly wages.
Enough to pay for loan and wage of promising Valencia playmaker Kang’in Lee. Wave the 40M buying option and we break even.
Kid is ridiculous, check link bellow and see how he benches Ozil.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nd-zB1c1UKo
Leno
Bellerin Koulibaly Saliba,
Niles Partey
Lee
Pepe Auba Saka
If we do not make at least Koulibaly and Partey additions, we will remain in midtable and fall off, while everyone else strenghen team to move higher.
Same CB and DM issue for a decade because we do not put the money and call it a day! Then board who doesn’t know when to sell and buy in order to break even!
Thats super thinking from Wenger. Its master class at its best, because in the long run, most of the clubs will be bankrupt
WENGER IS OBVIOUSLY RIGHT! No fan who has a true thinking capacity can possibly disgree with the need to vastly reduce wages all round. I would like to see all agents paid a fixed fee only and far, far less than now(Privately, I would love to see ALL agents abolished but know that will not happen in the money mad world we choose – and we DO choose, sadly, – to live in.)
The good news is that much of this WILL happen , accomplished indirectly by a deadly virus that has both destroyed countless lives but yet may, ironically, bring our human race to its senses.
Jon, to back your argument up, when Chelsea signed Nkonte, the two agents involved received upwards of £10 million.
Yet another example of greed and that money is lost to the world of football.
And KEN,though we both detest the overpayment of players it can at least be said that they provide entertainment and are big names. But agents are like rats who are faceless from the view of most and who infect the noble game with their poison, while enriching themselves beyond compare and are a disease, leeching on the game.
I would LOVE to see them wiped out completely by the football authorities but as we both know those ignoble bodies are also ratlike, it is not on the agenda of hopefulness.
It was because of greedy agents that we missed out on Ngolo Kante. We also missed out on some many classy players because of agents. Thank God Wenger is in FIFA now
Regarding the outrageous sums earned by the agents who rarely act on behalf of their young clients, but rather more for themselves, I would be delighted if they had their wings clipped.
Hopefully, clubs will have to be more prudent in how much transfers and salaries take as a proportion of the club’s income. It seems that Arsenal’s 60% was unable to stop the wage cut when the unimaginable happened this season.
A very sobering thought
Well said JF. AW is correct.This simple, sensible idea should be the mainstay of the Financial Fairplay Regulations Funds introduced by owners and/or Directors should be ring fenced for capital expenditure e.g ground improvements ,including new stadia but should not be allocated for transfer fees or wages. This would have the effect of reducing quickly, transfer fees and wages and would eliminate substantially the influence of the parasites we know as Agents.
I’ve just read that Barca will be putting all but 3 of their squad up for sale to prevent financial meltdown. Their annual wage bill is £550m!!!! Wow, eye-watering!!!