English clubs raise prices

The financial strength of Premier League clubs is driving up transfer prices in Germany, according to Schalke’s sports director Christian Heidel, who recently sold Leroy Sane to Manchester City.

The transfer budgets of England’s top clubs have grown considerably since the English League’s television rights were sold in 2015 to Sky and BT in the United Kingdom for a massive £5.14bn (for three seasons. Heidel says the knock-on effect of the influx of cash in England has certainly been felt in Germany. “If English managers are on the phone, then the (transfer) sums are automatically higher,” Heidel said. —