Desirable British Talent Leaves Clubs Taking Risky Gamble

The football transfer market is just like any other marketplace; supply and demand wrestle for superiority with price fluctuating accordingly.

While it may be immune to the effects of a recession say, and isn’t dependent on profits as foreign money pours in with scant regard for reality, it still responds to the notion of trends and precedent.

So may come as no surprise that the trend for snapping up young British talent has carried its momentum over from the last 12 months and burst spectacular into life this summer after United got their much anticipated (and long-awaited it must be said) spending spree.

Phil Jones wasn’t exactly the name most hand in mind as they day dreamt and placed football bets on Wesley Sneijder, Luka Modric and Ashley Young donning the famous red shirt next season, but the Old Trafford faithful will certainly appreciate the notion of building for the future with one of the most genuine, old-school tough tackling defenders out there. Nemanja Vidic may have just met his soul mate.

It wasn’t his impending signature that set tongues wagging, but his price tag – anywhere between £15 and £17 million depending on what paper you read –that raised more than a few eyebrows.

With Liverpool’s purchase of Jordan Henderson for around £20 million the must-have item this summer for big clubs it would seem isn’t the continental goal-poacher of years gone by, it’s the bright young prospect from no further than across the road. While he may be a football betting favourite to enjoy a long and successful career, the risks and benefits are locked in a finely balanced duel, waiting to make a mockery of, or validate, Kenny Dalglish’s transfer policy.

Purchases made in the usually panic-stricken January transfer window explained away as impulse suddenly take on a new context, the £35 million Liverpool tucked in Mike Ashley’s top pocket for Andy Carroll no longer seeming like the consequence of an anxious club spraying money around to appease supporters after losing a star-striker. it now appears that this astronomical sum was par for the course.

Even further back the likes of James Milner, Stuart Downing, and Darren Bent had “over-priced” written all over them as they headed for pastures new in the past year or so; all three were signed for a combined £60 million at a time when the trio had only 42 caps between them.

If this current trend continues, with £36 million paid for Henderson and Jones combined with the pair having won a solitary cap between them, how much will the likes of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Jack Rodwell cost when their time comes?

All this begs one very simple question: why?

The new squad rules introduced for last season switched the emphasis on home-grown players to discourage the splurging of cash on a European hot-shot. But check closer into the definition of “home-grown” and you can see a clear school of thought.

Squads must have eight home-grown players. Players are considered home grown if they have been with a club for three season before their 21^st birthday, so Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas is considered home grown.

Why would major clubs spend time and effort producing youth players when they have a perfect breeding ground all around them, with the only catch being the over-inflated prices we have seen?

The Premier League is a demanding league, so the bigger and better equipped a squad is the more likely it will be to succeed, and as long as home grown players not counting towards the 25-man limit of course this doesn’t apply to every home-grown or player under 21 (another reason for the influx of spending big on youthful players), then this trend loos set to continue.

United are perhaps slightly different in their approach as Sir Alex Ferguson spoke glowingly of Barcelona’s La Masia youth academy and of the need to establish a similar facility for the league champions to benefit from. Until that day however it will be a case of imported goods feeding United’s ambition.

Another factor is of course experience. Unique in its challenges and its physicality, Arsenal were a living testament to what can happen when promising talent from overseas are fed to the wolves of the English top tier without the necessary knowledge; Arsene Wenger will not be making that same mistake again.

If the Glazers are willing to back Ferguson in the transfer market and the likes of Jones can amply tick the boxes of talent and youth in equal measures (and the Scot is willing to test his eye for potential) then United will continue to lead the way in snapping up youngsters from around the country.

With over-inflated fees come equally proportioned expectations; but while the incentive to go through with such transfers remains dangled in front of the big four in particular, then these eye watering prices for relative unknowns will continue unabated.

It’s a dangerous game to play no doubt, but get it right however and the future of the club is ensured for a long time. It’s certainly one hell of a gamble.

Written By Guest Writer, Pete South.

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