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It is said, usually by a writer looking for an intro, that there is an ancient Chinese curse that proclaims: "Live at an interesting time." , these are interesting times, and today's over-inflated market buyers are realizing why it's a curse.
Unfortunately, this sentence is a myth. No such pearl of wisdom has been found in Chinese writings. And it is equally apocryphal that a gigantic prize weighs so heavily on a footballer that he is condemned to a subsequent failure. Many do, of course. Andy Carroll, for one.
These big signatures were not just eyebrows. It was good times for whiskey, tango and foxtrot that made people shake their heads and whisper the most damning of the charges: "The game is gone." In these cases, however, the game has reached new heights …
Virgil van Dijk – Southampton to Liverpool, 2018 (£ 75m)
Where else to start? When 2017 became 2018, Liverpool used its All Saints loyalty card to buy Van Dijk for £ 75m. The world record of a defender has brought his donations to Southampton north of £ 165 million in the space of three and a half years. What madness! What extravagance! What … an extremely intelligent transfer, which in hindsight looks like genius.
Van Dijk did not improve Liverpool's defense; he has transformed it. They scored 42 goals in the league in 2016/17 and conceded an average of 1.21 goals per game in 2017/18, before the debut of Van Dijk. For the rest of the season, it fell to 0.66, and in 2018/19 it was barely 0.58.
Their 22 goals against represent the second-lowest total in the history of the Premier League – mainly thanks to Van Dijk and new goalkeeper Alisson, another player who has repaid a huge amount (£ 66.8m) who turned heads and belly at Old Trafford.
Liverpool broke the taboo to invest a lot in a defender. Now, Maguire – a good half-center but undoubtedly inferior to the Dutch – will probably cost even more. Van Dijk raised the question.
Didier Drogba – Marseille to Chelsea, 2004 (£ 24m)
Jose Mourinho bought two players twice and directed Ricardo Carvalho in three clubs, but Drogba was his most typical Mourinhesque signature. He knew exactly what and who he wanted. he told his president that the purchase was essential ("I said:" Mr. Abramovich, pay – pay and do not speak ""); and he spent big to secure the case.
But, my boy, did Chelsea have a lot for his £ 24 million? It was a king's ransom in 2004, especially for a 26-year-old man who was unknown and who was only 3.3 million pounds in Marseille the year before (and in Guingamp only 80,000 18 months earlier). OM I did not want to sell Drogba, but … well, you can not argue with a profit of £ 20 million yoy.
Meanwhile, Chelsea had a world leader that allowed Mourinho to do without a second striker. Drogba stayed nine seasons and won the Champions League. Good deal.
Dani Alves – Seville to Barcelona, 2008 (£ 28.5 million)
The initial amount was in fact 23.5 million pounds. Barcelona promised another 5 million pounds in Seville if Alves ended up playing a lot and winning a lot. Raising 16 major trophies means that he has probably done just enough.
the Telegraph, recognizing the disappointment of rivals Manchester United and Chelsea, called the transfer "surprising". The fees were huge, agree, but Alves helped to regenerate not only Barcelona, but also the role of a broad advocate. Nobody accuses Pep Guardiola of having already spent too much for side backs.
Jamie Vardy – Fleetwood at Leicester, 2012 (£ 1.7m)
As noted above, Vardy's initial transfer fee was lower, but substantial: £ 1 million, a record amount for a non-league player. It seems likely that Leicester ended up paying the extra € 700,000 that allowed him to watch Cardiff, but Fleetwood may not add a "Premier League" clause when Vardy left them for the championship. Fools.
Paying a seven-figure sum for a 25-year-old player with no involvement in the Football League was daring from Leicester, but that paid off quite well.
Fleetwood, meanwhile, received a bonus every time Vardy played for England. They will still receive between 20% and 33% (reports differ) of his upcoming transfer fees, which gives his international retirement and his refusal to leave Leicester a rather ungrateful appearance.
Yaya Toure – Barcelona to Manchester City, 2010 (£ 24m)
"The Ivorian is an average player who would have £ 200,000 a week! Does he score goals? Does he create them? Is he an OK midfielder? Yes, but De Jong, Vieira and Barry are already doing this job! Paul Merson, there, gives a mark of 2/5 to the transfer.
Yaya Toure is considered one of the greatest players of all time.
Kevin De Bruyne – Wolfsburg in Manchester City, 2015 (£ 55m)
Back to Merse, this time in conversation with Jeff Stelling and Phil Thompson:
PT: "De Bruyne … my God, Jeff. The world is going crazy, is not it? The money they pay for this boy is absolutely crazy […] He is a good player, but is he an excellent player? Wolfsburg is a good team, but go for it.
JS: "Merse, was José Mourinho wrong to let him go?"
PM: "I did not mean it. I did not think he did it in Chelsea […] There are players you see and you say, "Yes" – I just do not see that. I do not see 50 million pounds for this player. I really do not see it at all. And that's someone who was in the best club in England and did not click. He has already played here in a big team, with the best players. Honestly, Jeff, I thought it was reading.
As laughable as this exchange is now, Thommo and Merse exaggerated what many thought. Manchester City was perceived as paying too much for De Bruyne, since he had also just paid 44 million pounds, or 49 million pounds, for Raheem Sterling (who could figure on this list, with the exception of 39, a 20-year-old English striker with more than 100 Premier League champions, and league appearances never go cheap). But City was rewarded for preparing the ground for Guardiola before his arrival.
Gianluigi Buffon – Parma at Juventus, 2001 (£ 32.6 million)
This one was actually expressed in lira – 100 billion dollars, thanks to the wonderfully crazy denominations of the old Italian currency.
Italy had officially adopted the euro two and a half years ago, but cash payments remained in lire until 2002. This suggests that Juventus would have paid the most expensive goalkeeper in the world – a title that Buffon would hold all during its 17 years in Turin – giving Parma 100 billion pieces, and 67 484 662 576 others in the form of shrapnel for Lilian Thuram, the most expensive defender in the world, 22 million pounds. No wonder Parma went bankrupt, carrying this lot.
Trevor Francis – Birmingham at Nottingham Forest, 1979 (£ 1m)
Was it £ 999,999 or a million? Or even more? And, once Brian Clough had his man, was Francis able to boast of being the first player to a million pounds of football?
In short: no. However, Francis won his first European Cup by scoring the only goal of the final at Nottingham Forest, shortly after his arrival. Work done, really.
Christian Vieri – Latium at Inter, 1999 (£ 32m)
Put away your backup glbades and it seems confusing that Inter is paying a world record for an attacker who has played for six clubs in six years, in a kind of anachronistic tribute to Shane Long, in 2014.
But, even if six seasons with the Nerazzurri With only one trophy (the Coppa Italia), Vieri repaid Inter's faith with a ridiculous 103 goals in 144 league appearances. Not quite like Shane Long, then.
Jordan Henderson – Sunderland in Liverpool, 2011 (£ 20m)
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It's easy to forget that a) 20 million pounds was still a big deal in 2011, and b) Henderson had to wait six or seven years for the respect he now has. When he was put alongside Lionel Messi on the cover of FIFA 16, Internet burned with abuse, despair, jokes and boycotts.
Back to today, who recently led his team to the glory of the Champions League? It's not Messi. Nor is Phil Jones, who moved to Manchester United the same week that Henderson joined Liverpool, for a similar fee, at a similar age, with greater potential related to his name. No, it's Jordan Brian Henderson. Yours, the players!
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