Lionel Messi

The Ridiculousness of Release Clauses

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These days it seems like you can’t be thought of as a world class soccer player unless you have a super-sized release clause in your contract.  The most recently example: Barcelona have finally closed the book on the protracted transfer saga/soap opera that was Cesc Fabregas’ move to the Camp Nou.  In addition to the £35m fee paid it was announced that the midfielder had a €200m release clause inserted in his contract.

The high price is supposed to be a statement of intent to keep a player but is it really anything besides a headline grab? Continue reading “The Ridiculousness of Release Clauses” →

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The Ridiculousness of Release Clauses

There Is No English Player Bubble

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Steam is building behind the idea that a bubble in player valuations, specifically those of the English variety, now exists and is growing.  The cause?  Owners with too much money and too little sense.  The evidence? The recent transfers of young Englishmen Andy Carroll (£35m), Phil Jones (19.3m) and Jordan Henderson (18m) as well as others.  But the recent English love in is not the result of managers backed by reckless billionaire playboys, it is just a reflection of the new, more expensive English transfer market.

A bubble exists when prices in a market are significantly out of touch with the value of the goods or services being traded.   Continue reading “There Is No English Player Bubble” →

There Is No English Player Bubble

Lionel Messi: Worth His Weight In Gold

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If you happened to watch the Barcelona – Arsenal Champions League fixture last night, you were treated to the spectacle of Lionel Messi violating Manuel Almunia’s goal a total of 4 times.  This kind of performance is not a fluke, Messi has made them a regular occurrence in his career and, as Arsenal understands very well, not just against lower level opposition.  There is no question that he is the world’s best player and there is plenty of time for him to grow even better.

So how much is the Argentinian wunderkind worth?  We could guess around based on past transfer market silliness or how much cash there is floating around at Manchester City waiting to be spent, but let’s at least try a hard measure (or at least a more entertaining one).  So let’s see how much Messi is worth, literally, pound-for-pound. Continue reading “Lionel Messi: Worth His Weight In Gold” →

Lionel Messi: Worth His Weight In Gold

The Reason For It All

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It is video clips like this one which make me forget about balance sheets, player contracts, and administration.

Beautiful, seamless football at its finest.  Surely there is no better reason to encourage financial sanity than to make sure that nothing ever threatens the beauty that is Barcelona’s flowing movement around the field.

The Reason For It All