Top Football Transfers of 2014
The total cost of signing a player in football these days is often shrouded in doubt as there are just so many monetary factors to consider such as agents fees, the transfer fee itself, potential add-ons given the success of the move and the wages the players themselves are paid and so on. In a recent study all of the above factors where taken into consideration in order to come up with as accurate a list as possible.
Uruguayan striker, Luis Suarez came out on top as the most expensive deal in 2014, with the true cost of the striker’s move from Liverpool to Barcelona peaking at an eye-watering £199m (€252m), and to think there were some attempts to play this sum down to less than £90m, from people high-up in the Spanish boardroom. This behavior is not new to Barcelona, who, when they signed Brazilian superstar Neymar, had declared a total fee of €57.1m and not the actual €95m signing fee. Spanish newspaper, El mundo, broke down the €95m as €40m to the Neymar family, €17m to former side Santos, €7.9m for rights to three further young Santos players, €9m for two friendly games between the clubs, €8.5m in commission to Neymar’s father, €2.6m in other agents’ fees and a signing-on bonus of €10m.
Second on the top fee paid in 2014 list, is none other than Manchester United’s world-class attacker Ángel Di María, coming in at a hefty £190.4m (€241m.), with James Rodríguez’s blockbuster switch from Monaco to Real Madrid in third place on £133.5m (€169m).
Here are the top 10:
1 Luis Suárez: Liverpool to Barcelona = £199m ((€252m).
2 Ángel Di María: Real Madrid to Manchester United = £190.4m (€241m.)
3 James Rodríguez: Monaco to Real Madrid = £133.5m (€169m).
4 Alexis Sánchez: Barcelona to Arsenal = £113m (€143m).
5 Luke Shaw: Southampton to Manchester United = £103.5m (€131m).
6 Diego Costa: Atletico Madrid to Chelsea = £102.7m (€129.31m).
7 Cesc Fàbregas: Barcelona to Chelsea = £100.3m (€126.29m).
8 Juan Mata: Chelsea to Manchester United = £96.4m (€121.38m).
9 David Luiz: Chelsea to Paris St. Germain = £90.9m (€114.46m).
10 Eliaquim Mangala: FC Porto to Manchester City = £87.7m = (€110.43m).
Nine of the ten transfers involve an English top-flight club, with 5 of the purchases coming from overseas and two involving sides at both ends of the deal in the league. The real power still lies at Barcelona and Real Madrid and it’s clear for all to see that they are the major players in the world transfer market right now, dictating what they want from whom and leaving others to base their summer policy off the back of their decisions and signings. What is indignant in this scenario is why Spain is happy to request €40bn in aid from eurozone taxpayers for its banks while allowing their football clubs to build up a tax debt of €692m (as of 2013). The total does not include the tax debts of four clubs that are exempt because, under legislation passed by the Spanish Government in 1990, they were not obliged to reconstitute themselves as public limited companies and could continue to be owned by their members, or “socios”. These four clubs are Real Madrid and Barcelona, who also take around 50 per cent of La Liga’s total television revenue for themselves, Athletic Bilbao and Osasuna.
