increase of clubs bidding for a set amount of players has subsequently bid the price of players in the transfer window upwards. Another issue is that foreign clubs are all aware of the massive increase in funding the Premier League teams had received. Due to this, they can refuse transfer requests from Premier League teams for a lower price in the knowledge that they can get more money from the English teams. However, in some cases they have then allowed their players go to other clubs for the original lower price. This has meant that, in order for English sides to improve their squads, they are forced to pay inflated prices.
Premier League clubs are also incredibly resistant to selling players. It is more lucrative for many smaller clubs to keep their squad and stay in the Premier League with a potential prize pot of £100m+ than to sell one of their better players for what could be considered a huge fee. For instance, Watford turned down a bid last year for £38m for
Odion Ighalo, a relatively small name for an absolute absurd fee. Their logic was that he had proven himself an efficient goal scorer for the club and if they sold him, it could prove extremely difficult to find a suitable replacement, even with a huge pot of money to spend. This uncertainty made the club believe that it would be better to hold onto their player and hope that he can lead them to stay in the top flight of English football which would guarantee a pay out of at least £100m. This low incentive to sell in the Premier League means that prospective buyers are forced to spend more money to try to prise players away from teams reluctant to let players go. These factors have caused drastic changes in the amount spent by English clubs in the market. In 2012 the total spending of clubs was £410m; by 2016 it was £1.2bn. The amount spent has almost tripled over those four years. This year prices are likely to rise even more with mediocre players that were once relatively cheap going for around £30m. Also the revelation of Brexit will also have an effect on the market. Under current exchange rates players will be relatively more expensive due to the weaker pound. Overall, the market for footballers seems to be spiralling out of control and the introduction of new, cash rich, clubs in China and the Middle East is leading to further player transfer inflation. Can it possibly continue at this rate? We will have to wait and see…
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M ATTHEW B ARRETT
Is the Age of Austerity Dead?
‘Today is the day that Britain steps back from the brink, when we confront the bills from a decade of debt. It will be a hard road, but it will lead to a better future.’ George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Budget Speech, October 2010 Austerity is defined as ‘difficult conditions created by government measures to reduce public expenditure’. The Conservative party has carried out this policy since 2010 in response to the 2007/2008 financial crisis as government debt as a percentage of UK Gross Domestic Product (GDP) had grown from around 35% in 2007 to over 70% in 2010, a level unseen since the end of World War II.
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