“It’s impossible to keep track of everything” – Kommersant FM

FIFA head Gianni Infantino proposed determining prices for football players using some kind of algorithm. However, the official did not explain how exactly the player’s cost would be calculated. According to Infantino, the new rules will increase the transparency of the transfer system. Is this possible in modern football? Kommersant FM sports commentator Vladimir Osipov wondered.

The transfer market has long lived by its own laws. The desire of clubs to get this or that player raises prices to the skies. The pandemic has slowed down this process a little, but now the price tag for players has again rushed into outer space. Last year, clubs spent almost €10 billion on transfers, breaking another record. And it is already clear that this crazy financial race will not stop, says football agent Dmitry Selyuk: “If earlier it seemed that €100 million was some kind of incredible figure, today it is, let’s say, a bargaining chip for many football players. Not for units, but for dozens already.”

Now the prices for this or that player are determined by the market, which means that the price tag, in principle, can be anything. So far, the €222 million that PSG paid for Neymar remains the largest amount paid for a football player on planet Earth. But there are nuances – the salaries of some stars are already higher than this amount. Saudi Arabia pays €250 million a year to Cristiano Ronaldo and offered Lionel Messi more than €1 billion for two seasons.

So, in trying to control all these financial flows, Infantino is basically doing the right thing, notes football agent Vadim Trushkov, who lives and works in France: “Perhaps there is some small rational grain in this. If this is some kind of attempt to regulate the market, then perhaps the economy is completely out of control. Certain clubs, primarily English ones, had the opportunity to invest so much money that now everyone is trying to keep up with them.”

But will the official and his team be able to make a revolution when the football market lives by its own laws and is hardly ready to obey anyone? If the same Real Madrid needs Kylian Mbappe or Erling Haaland, he is ready to fork out money. And how can he be stopped in this situation? Moreover, the story with Real is still a resonant episode, but how many transfers happen without close attention from the press? It is impossible to keep track of everything, and no matter how hard he wants, Infantino will not be able to keep down the prices for players, football manager Yuri Belous is sure:

“This once again shows that Infantino, unfortunately, is far from football. It’s impossible to weigh everything like that. Today a football player plays like this, in six months he could lose everything. How many of our players went to Zenit for a lot of money, and then they cost three kopecks after that.

Of course, any attempt at objectification is laudable. But the most difficult thing is to evaluate the football skill and capabilities of a football player.”

Moreover, an algorithm that determines the approximate cost of players already exists. The German portal Transfermarkt is currently a reference point for many clubs. He has been working for almost 20 years and sometimes very accurately determines the price of a particular football player.

But the approximate cost is one thing, and the price that clubs are willing to pay is another. The same Mbappe, according to Transfermarkt, is worth €180 million. But it is already clear that a club that decides to take such a player into its squad will have to part with a much more serious sum. So, despite all the statements by the head of FIFA, we most likely will not see a real algorithm that will determine the price of players. At least in the near future.

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