Money Train Keeps Going
It was not for nothing that Real Madrid was named soccer’s “team of the century” last year by FIFA. After all, the club has won a record eight European Cup titles and has been Spanish champion no fewer than 28 times.
Lately, however, the dollar signs in the headlines have overshadowed the silverware in the trophy room at Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu stadium.
Last year, Real Madrid smashed the international transfer record by luring Portuguese midfielder Luis Figo from rival Barcelona for an astonishing $56.1 million.
That world record lasted barely a year.
Last week, Florentino Perez, Real Madrid’s president, scored his biggest coup of all by acquiring French midfielder Zinedine Zidane from Juventus of Italy for $66.05 million.
To put the figure in slightly different perspective, the same amount would pay a Major League Soccer rookie’s salary for the next 2,752 years.
The cost of the world’s top players has gone through the roof in recent years, but even those who criticize the transfer fees being paid find themselves without a leg to stand on.
Alex Ferguson, Manchester United’s manager, on Thursday called the inflated state of the transfer market “ridiculous.”
But it was Ferguson himself who contributed to that situation in April by paying PSV Eindhoven of the Netherlands $27.48 million for Dutch striker Ruud Van Nistelrooy.
And it was Ferguson who on Thursday shattered the British transfer record by buying Argentine midfielder Juan Veron from Lazio of Italy for $39.5 million.
According to one English newspaper, that brought the overall worth of Manchester United’s players to a staggering $281 million.
And the dollar signs keep flashing. This year alone, six players have changed clubs in deals worth more than $30 million apiece, and more such transactions are likely, indeed inevitable.
Juventus already has spent the money it received for Zidane, and then some. The Turin-based club paid $45.9 million to Parma for Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, $35 million to Parma for French defender Lilian Thuram and $35.27 million to Lazio for Czech midfielder Pavel Nedved.
Things have reached the point where fees of $20 million or more have been pushed well down the chart of most expensive transfers. This despite the fact that:
* Borussia Dortmund of Germany paid a Bundesliga-record $21.5 million to acquire Brazilian striker Marcio Amoroso from Parma in Italy.
* Parma bought Japanese midfielder Hidetoshi Nakata from AS Roma for $26 million.
* Leeds United in England paid $25.3 million to West Ham United for defender Rio Ferdinand.
Real Madrid is one of the most generous spenders. Taking into account only the eight most expensive players it has bought since 1999, the club has splashed out $236 million on talent.
Perez, the club’s president, defends the outlay.
“FIFA awarded us the title of the best club of the 20th century,” he told Reuters, “and as such we have to make sure we have the best players in the world.
“As everyone knows, what may at first appear expensive is often cheap in the long run. As well as being profitable from sporting terms, I have absolutely no doubt the Zidane deal will be profitable from the economic perspective.”
Zidane’s Goal
According to reports, Zidane will earn little more than $5 million a year after taxes in each of his four seasons at Real Madrid.
But it is not money that caused the 29-year-old to move from Juventus. For one thing, his wife, Veronique, is Spanish and wanted to go home after five years in Italy.
For another, Zidane is determined to win the honor that has eluded him--the European Cup.
He has won the 1998 World Cup and the 2000 European Championship with France, as well as being named FIFA’s world player of the year in each of those years. He won the Italian championship with Juventus in 1997 and 1998.
Juventus, with Zidane in the lineup, twice lost in the European Cup final, to Germany’s Borussia Dortmund in 1997 and to Real Madrid in 1998.
The Marseilles-born player believes he will have a better chance to snare the prize with Real Madrid.
Barcelona Responds
If there is one club in Spain that can ruin Real Madrid’s dream, it is Barcelona.
The Catalan giant has gone without a trophy the last two seasons and would enjoy spoiling Real Madrid’s centenary season in 2002.
“If we had wanted to we could have signed Zidane, but we chose to spend the money on buying several young players who have great potential for the future,” Angel Fernandez, Barcelona’s vice president, told Reuters.
“We already have players of the same class and experience [as Zidane] and we believe it is better to balance the team with a mixture of youth and experience.”
The $66.05 million paid for Zidane grabbed the attention, but Barcelona has spent more than $80 million in revamping its team. In the last couple of weeks it has signed:
Brazilian forward Geovanni, 21, from Cruzeiro for $18 million; Brazilian midfielder Fabio Rochemback, 19, from Internacional of Porto Alegre for $12.2 million; French defender Philippe Christanval from AS Monaco for $14.19 million; Swedish defender Patrik Andersson, 29, from Bayern Munich for $6.72 million; Argentine forward Javier Saviola, 19, from River Plate for more than $30 million after he scored 11 goals in leading Argentina to the FIFA World Youth Championship this month.
Saviola, nicknamed “the rabbit” because of his toothy grin, might one day be nicknamed something else altogether.
He is 10 years younger than Zidane and, if all goes well, he might one day become the world’s first $100-million player.
That’s where the transfer market is heading.
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The Filthy Dozen
Soccer’s 12 most expensive players:
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Player (Country) Year Transfer Amount Zinedine Zidane (France) 2001 Juventus to Real Madrid $66.05 million Luis Figo (Portugal) 2000 Barcelona to Real Madrid $56.1 million Hernan Crespo 2000 Parma to Lazio $54.1 million (Argentina) Christian Vieri (Italy) 1999 Lazio to Inter Milan $50 million Gianluigi Buffon (Italy) 2001 Parma to Juventus $45.9 million Juan Veron (Argentina) 2001 Lazio to Manchester $39.5 million United Nicolas Anelka (France) 1999 Arsenal to Real Madrid $35.7 million Pavel Nedved (Czech 2001 Lazio to Juventus $35.27 million Republic) Denilson (Brazil) 1997 Sao Paolo to Real Betis $35 million Lilian Thuram (France) 2001 Parma to Juventus $35 million Rui Costa (Portugal) 2001 Fiorentina to AC Milan $34.91 million Gabriel Batistuta 2000 Fiorentina to Roma $33.8 million (Argentina)
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