English clubs ‘ suffocating’ in transfer market

Arsene Wenger has warned English football that it risks “suffocating” itself amid a two- tiered transfer market where fees for Premier League clubs are as much as 10 times more than the rest of Europe.

Premier League spending for one transfer window i s now poised to reach £ 1 billion ($ 1.81 billion) for the first time after Deloitte confirmed yesterday that the total outlay had already passed £ 800 million.

A series of major deals i s still expected in the remaining fortnight of the window and it is forecast that gross spending will smash all previous records.

Wenger is under intense pressure to add players in the final days of the window after searching for a centre back and a striker.

But, with the rest of Europe well aware that Premier League revenues are now more than the Bundesliga, La Liga and Serie A combined, the English clubs are being treated differently.

“Today in Europe, you have two markets,” said Wenger. “One for the English clubs and one for the rest of Europe. The danger of the English situation is that the English clubs can suffocate themselves in the long term. Why? Because they buy players at a very high price.

“That means there are very high wages linked with it and, if they are wrong, they will have these players with high wages who cannot move anywhere else.”

Of the fees that were now being demanded by European clubs for “average players”, Wenger said: “I have told you before the criteria for the price of a player but you could add one more: the identity of the buyer.

“When the buyer is English, it is true that it multiplies the transfer by two or three or sometimes by 10.

“If an English club does not come in, he is worth £ 5 million but, if an English club comes for the same player, he is worth £ 35 million? Or 40? Or 50?”

Wenger’s comments are likely to be influenced by frustrations in Arsenal’s current negotiations for Valencia defender Shkodran Mustafi and Lyon striker Alexandre Lacazette.

Deloitte, which studies transfer trends across Europe, is expecting a flurry of further activity.

“The increase in central Premier League distributions for the 2016- 17 season of around £ 30 million-£ 50 million per club is likely to fuel a new record high of over £ 1 billion for gross player transfer spending in the 2016 summer transfer window,” said Alex Thorpe, senior manager at Deloitte Sports Business Group.

Agents and senior recruitment staff at Premier League clubs said the English have long been forced to pay a premium but that they have noticed a definite inflation in prices even since the start of this transfer window.

“Clubs that got some of their deals done early are looking like they got better value even than a few weeks ago,” said a director of one leading club.

“There has long been a price for Premier League clubs and a different one for others but there has been a noticeable jump this year.”