Real Madrid's Galactico policy saw them need a massive bail-out by the city of Madrid who rather generously paid well over the odds for the club training facilities. Valencia, lacking such political influence, must now hawk their stars round whatever club is willing to make them an offer thanks to a period of massive fees being paid for average talent. Zigic alone cost them almost £20million and was promptly sent on loan to former club Santander after failing to impress with Los Che. Chelsea are considering offering £50million for a player who has spent barely 18 months outside of his native Brazil and whilst young Pato may fulfil that kind of expectation in the fullness of time, its a hell of a price tag to burden a player with. Sergio “Kun” Aguero is being rumoured at £45million with Ribery expected to top £60m and Cristiano Ronaldo finally having completed his protracted £80million world record transfer, you have to wonder how clubs can continue to finance such gargantuan deals?
Football long ago lost touch with the common man. When clubs started paying players more in a single week than their supporters could earn in a whole year, nobody could have been left in any doubt that footballers had moved into a different world. The natural conclusion to this is that young Brazilian kids dream not of pulling on the famous yellow jersey but of moving to Europe, acquiring the blonde arm candy wife and earning the riches to make both them and their families important back home. The football itself is merely a means to an end – of achieving a certain lifestyle funded by multi-million-dollar contracts for endorsements and image rights.
As a spectacle, the superstar era does little to devalue the product but for the brave souls who follow their club every week, the financial pressure on football must surely threaten the future of a great number of sides who survive on the breadline. Is it right that Manchester United have such a burden of debt that it costs more to service their yearly payments than Rangers receive in gross income? Will La Liga be devoid of sporting integrity next season should Real Madrid buy their way to the title? Whilst it may serve up a short term fix for armchair sports fans, questions must be asked about the long term impact on our game. Platini is correct to be concerned about the links between success and debt and whilst steps to refocus on fiscal restraint and long term development won't be popular there can be no doubt that they deserve serious consideration. The most effective medicine is rarely easy to swallow.
So where is the money coming from? Walk into a bank to try to get a mortgage these days and you'll find yourself struggling to convince the chastised manager that you're a worthy credit risk. Employers are either making wholesale redundancies or asking staff to work on reduced terms simply to keep their jobs viable. It might be true of lower league clubs that the new financial realities apply as much to them as it does to us but what of the footballing powerhouses? Rangers fans need look no further than our own club to see the consequences of uncontrolled spending and perhaps fans across Europe would do well to take our experience of boom and bust on board?
There is growing frustration amongst supporters that we've yet to be linked with a player never mind completing any transfer activity but perhaps a dose of realism is needed? There are bargains out there – Ivica Olic must surely be one of the greatest Bosman deals and Valencia have picked up two very useful players in Bruno and Mathieu, both attacking fullbacks who give excellent support to their midfield – but it takes time and effort on the part of our scouts and our management staff to identify these players and to bring them to the club. Smith has spent more in his return to Ibrox than his two predecessors combined and whilst some key signings helped secure our first title in four years, the threat posed by financial indiscipline has reared its ugly head again. We cant compete with the riches that English sides enjoy thanks to the involvement of the Dirty Digger and our refusal to realise this in the 90s cost us dearly.
Indeed, we're still feeling the impact of Advocaat's time at Ibrox more than a decade after he first arrived and some may even argue that we'll never really escape from the consequences of the chequebook years. Our best hopes for long term success may mean longer term planning and more investment in structure - two things that dont sell the same number of shirts as a superstar signing - but the financial world we now operate in must surely dictate that we swallow our pride and take the difficult action.
Elite football may seem unaffected by the credit crunch but the reality is that almost every club survives on a heady cocktail of debt and the good will of season ticket buyers who pay their money well before a ball has been kicked in anger. Indulge too often and the accompanying hangover can last for years. Football fans aren't renowned for patience but if we're to get the most from this summer then we must make sure that whatever money we do spend is spent wisely. By all means enjoy the circus on show from the giants in Spain and England but remember that eventually every tightrope walker must look down.
Does football have a sufficiently reliable safety net in place should financial realism finally invade the beautiful game? Because that's one hell of a distance to fall...