PLAYER POWER WILL ONLY FUEL FREE TRANSFERS

MAYBE we should not be surprised at Arsene Wenger’s comments about the transfer market.

The Arsenal boss has described the window as “very difficult” and claims the “prices are out of proportion”.

Wenger added: “There is no transfer market anymore because the price depends only on the identity of the buyer and when you are English, you have straight away 50 per cent (extra) on the price of a player.”

He is right to a degree, although Arsenal fans will bemoan annual complaints about the market as an excuse not to spend.

The Gunners broke their transfer record by paying Lyon £52million for Alexandre Lacazette and they also signed

Sead Kolasinac on a free transfer from Schalke.

But £52m is a fraction of the deal of the summer – Paris Saint Germain paying nearly four times as much to sign Neymar (above) from Barcelona.

That is one reason why Wenger is wrong about English clubs. Mega-rich clubs like PSG will spend big and carry on doing so.

Manchester City, of course, have spent in excess of £220m. English spending has already topped £1billion and will go way above that before the window closes. But where it looks likely to change is the very nature of signing a player.

Previously, clubs tried to sign players for big fees, put them on long contracts and protect the asset by selling when the time is right.

There is a feeling among some top clubs that this is about to change. Clubs will buy a player, budget to sign them for the length of the contract and then move on. It will see more players move as free agents, clubs seeing the big names as three- or four-year investments, and reduce escalating transfer fees. Arsenal are a case in point, although not by design this time.

They have Alexis Sanchez (inset), Mesut Ozil and Alex Oxladechamberlain – big stars with a year left who can leave for free next year.

Arsenal got Kolasinac on a free this summer and Manchester United signed Zlatan Ibrahimovic last year for nothing.

The trend for free transfers could be as revolutionary as Bosmanstyle transfers coming in during the 90s.

Players will be in favour because they stand to get more money.

And, in the current climate, it is all about player power.