Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Union Jack overpriced says Kuyt
EXCLUSIVE
FORMER Liverpool legend Dirk Kuyt has laid into
Jack Grealish – saying he’s worth only one-third of his £100million fee.
The Dutch ace, a firm Kop favourite during his six-year stint at Anfield, has held up Manchester City’s record signing as an example of an overheated domestic market.
The England star became the most expensive recruit when the title-holders triggered his Aston Villa release clause.
But Kurt says the global pull of the Premier League is distorting transfer values – and that Grealish is the best example of that.
He said: “The hype and success of the Premier League has an effect on the players’ values.
“Just look at the price tags on them these days.
“Jack Grealish went for £100m to City. That’s three times the value of what he’s really worth.”
Kuyt (below) added that Grealish was not an isolated example and almost every player in England suffers in the market because their fees are inflated.
It is not the first time the Dutch have questioned the cash being splashed on homegrown talent.
Ex-Spurs star Rafael van der Vaart revealed in an interview that he was confronted by Harry Maguire’s agent after he criticised the centre-half.
The former playmaker, speaking as a pundit in Holland, said that Maguire had cost Manchester United “an absolute fortune”, adding that he was “not playing to the level of his price tag”.
However, Van der Vaart insists one player providing value-for-money is Cristiano Ronaldo.
Van der Vaart said: “What he produced in the final minute of that game against Villarreal was not a coincidence. Not a matter of being lucky.
“When a 36-year-old player still has a body like Cristiano, you have to believe in him.”