Why Do English Players Command Such Extortionate Domestic Transfer Fees?

It has become common practice for English Premiership clubs to pay extortionate domestic transfer fees for home-grown players. Some of this years big money moves in particular have shown just how much the top teams are willing to fork out for an Englishman, particularly when they're young and being touted as 'the next big thing'.

Whilst I'm all for clubs trying to build their teams around homegrown players, I think the premium being placed on some, purely because of their nationality, is ridiculous and a massive risk for the clubs dishing out the huge sums of cash.

Since Kenny Dalglish was given the job of Liverpool manager, he has made it clear that the focus will be on assembling a team he thinks can challenge for the title, built around a spine of English talent. But surely, in spending nearly £60 million on Jordan Henderson and Andy Carroll, two players who have yet to prove their real worth, he has been slightly foolish?

Carroll more valuable than Torres when he arrived at Liverpool?

Earlier this year Carroll cost them over £30 million, which is significantly more than the amount they paid for Fernando Torres in 2007, and few would argue which player had shown more potential before their big moves. The £20 million the Reds have just spent on Jordan Henderson is even more absurd to me. This is someone who played relatively well in the first half of last season, before tailing off when his team were under pressure and needed their main-men to stand up and be counted. When you consider that they may have been able to sign Luka Modric for a similar fee, it must make Liverpool fans wonder if their 'All-English' line-up is really what's needed.

It's not only Liverpool who are spending big on English players. Manchester United are expected to splash out £16 million on Blackburn's young centre half, Phil Jones. He has had a good season, playing particularly well against his new employers, but I still think that spending that much money on a player, who hasn't even been involved in the full national team, is a gamble.

£36m in Transfer Fees But Only 1 Full Cap Between Them... 

At the end of the day, the proof will be in the proverbial pudding, and if Andy Carroll and Jordan Henderson help Liverpool back into contention for the Premiership they will be seen as bargain buys.

EB...
Twitter: euanblack

How to Make an Old Man Cry

Having just watched Alex Ferguson's press conference regarding Wayne Rooney's intentions to leave Manchester United, I suggest everyone's favourite Shrek look-a-like may wish to use the heading of this blog as the title of his next autobiography.

Ferguson looked distraught. I swear, at one point, I was certain he was going to cry. However, as much as I would have enjoyed watching that, I should have known he is made of stronger things. Afterall, he wouldn't be welcome back in Govan if a thick footballer, with a penchant for bedding grannies, could force him to shed a tear.



One thing you can say about Sir Alex is that he has never let anyone become bigger than the club; Ince, Stam, Beckham, Keane, and now Rooney. However, whilst this case will ultimately end in the same way as the others; with the player leaving Manchester United, it does seem to be a slightly different situation, because no one really knows what the hell's going on.

Paul Ince was basically a bit of a prat. A good footballer, but not a great one, he decided that he wanted to be known as 'The Guvnor'. Unfortunately for him, his boss decided that there were other, more appropriate, nicknames, labelling him a "bottler" and a "f*cking big time Charlie", before selling him to Inter Milan. Beckham was probably a similar case, in that Ferguson saw him as a bit too arrogant and cocky. So instead of a verbal attack, this time he went one further and 'assaulted' (allegedly) 'Goldenballs', by kicking a boot at him, before packing him off to Real Madrid. Roy Keane, Ferguson's eyes and ears on the pitch for so many years, was next to face the wrath. After some pretty substantial claims that his team mates were basically shit, he was given a free transfer, moving North to Celtic.



But the current Rooney debacle is far more precarious. Ferguson seems genuinely gutted that last season's top scoring Englishman in the EPL wants to leave United. And in an even stranger twist, he stated during the press conference that, "the door will be left open for Rooney[to sign a contract]". What this does, and it is something that Ferguson has never allowed to happen before, is place the power in the hands of the player. I can only imagine that his reason for doing this, is that he is as clueless as the rest of us as to why Rooney wants to leave the club, and is hoping that he will be able to figure it out, and convince him to stay.

There are a few possible reasons for him wanting to leave. Firstly, he may feel that the way things are going, Man Utd are going to struggle to win anything in the next couple of years. They can't match the financial backing of Chelsea and Man City, and have looked a shadow of their former selves this season. Infact within last Saturday's starting 11 (which drew 2-2 with West Brom), I would suggest that only two of those players would make it into Chelsea's team. The two I'm talking about are Vidic and Ferdinand, and I know a lot of people would say Terry is better than them both.

A second reason for his change of heart may simply be that he wants to leave the UK because of the recent problems with his private life. I'm not excusing what he has done, infact I think he is a bit of a bastard, but the constant abuse and intrusion must be incredibly difficult to cope with. Beckham admitted that when he moved to Spain, he was able to walk down the street without being hounded by press and the public, which will be a huge appeal to someone like Rooney.



Finally, it may come down to plain old greed. We will certainly be able to establish if this is the case because his next move will be to Manchester City, who can undoubtedly offer him the most money. Although Ferguson has said that the package Manchester United have put together for Rooney would be "difficult to better elsewhere", I'm fairly certain that their rivals could increase any offer they put to the striker. If he does make this move it will ultimately end any positive perception the public have of him. To be fair, his past actions haven't left him with too many fans, however, a move to City would be the final nail in the coffin.

This is a story which will evolve in the coming weeks, and will probably prove incredibly interesting. Infact, I think, it may become one of the great transfer stories in football's history. Here we have one of the world's best players, who wants to leave one of the world's greatest clubs....for no apparent reason. Someone is hiding something, we're just waiting for it to sneak out.

Eb....