Transfer fees

[No Ney Never]

A lot is made of the fee we've paid for some of our players when discussing their contribution to the team, but is £10m really a large fee in today's football world?
To many of us £10m would see us enjoy a very comfortable life, I appreciate that, but as far as transfer fees are concerned, what level of quality can we expect that sort of money to buy this summer?

[alicante claret]

From my perspective it is the value we get in the market. We will be likely to pay higher fees and wages plus agents fees. It appears that we look to buy players who will not only improve the squad but will improve as players. Their value increases as they move on, it looks a good business model. It would improve even more if some youth players made a breakthrough.

[minnieclaret]

Excellent point. There are many on here who believe our two £10m+ Irishman should be worldbeaters.

[ThinLizzy]

It depends where you look and if it comes off. Kante cost Leicester somewhere around £5.6 million. Certainly a gamble that paid off, as did Mahrez!

[Sidney1st]

£10 million before the current Sky deal was a lot of money for us.

£10 million after the current Sky deal isn't so much.

Some people are struggling to get their heads round this concept and are stuck in old money times.
This doesn't mean we should be out spending £10 million plus as often as we can, we can still find the bargains where possible, but neither should we baulk at paying the money required for the players the manager wants, especially if he doesn't have an alternative.

There are people on here demanding £20 million plus for Keane, for instance, so why shouldn't we pay big money for players?

[Sidney1st]

It depends where you look and if it comes off. Kante cost Leicester somewhere around £5.6 million. Certainly a gamble that paid off, as did Mahrez!

Both signed during the old money times.

[ThinLizzy]

Both signed during the old money times.

Not sure if you get my point. If we can bring in a player for £5 million with that talent and immediate effect then that is a bonus. Of course every player is a risk and we don't know if they'll be successful. There is talent out there at bargain prices. Then again, as I think you're referring to. There is the going market for average players, which seems to waiver between £10 and £100 million depending on who's buying and selling.
Even in old money times there were vastly overrated players signed for silly prices and superb signings signed for bargain prices.

[MACCA]

Both signed during the old money times.

Still in old money times up here. A few more weeks for 5ers, November I think for quids!

[Sidney1st]

Not sure if you get my point. If we can bring in a player for £5 million with that talent and immediate effect then that is a bonus. Of course every player is a risk and we don't know if they'll be successful. There is talent out there at bargain prices. Then again, as I think you're referring to. There is the going market for average players, which seems to waiver between £10 and £100 million depending on who's buying and selling.
Even in old money times there were vastly overrated players signed for silly prices and superb signings signed for bargain prices.

You're right about the over rated players and prices etc.

Kante for £6.5 million is a prime example of a bargain signing when compared to Schweinsteiger & Schneiderlin who both moved for more money and were rubbish signings for UTD.

Average players have now increased in value, meaning in some circumstances the club has to move along with the times.
It just results in people on here questioning the fees paid because they're still thinking in old money terms.

[jurek]

10m for an UK player probably isn't that much nowadays hence we've paid
23m on two of them.
We need to expand our search for new players and possibly take a punt
on a few overseas players. Unless they're one of the few stars they generally come in
much cheaper both in fees and wages depending where we get them from.

[IAmAClaret]

It's all very well paying £10m+ until the arse falls out of SkySports. At that point, we, along with numerous other clubs will be in a creek with no paddle.

I am firmly against charging fans an amount of money that would make a difference to your average worker, for a season ticket, which in reality, brings in about £3m a year.

I'd much rather sign a £7m player and have free season tickets than a £10m player.

[Sidney1st]

It's all very well paying £10m+ until the arse falls out of SkySports. At that point, we, along with numerous other clubs will be in a creek with no paddle.

I am firmly against charging fans an amount of money that would make a difference to your average worker, for a season ticket, which in reality, brings in about £3m a year.

I'd much rather sign a £7m player and have free season tickets than a £10m player.

So if the arse falls out of Sky Sports, you're then going to need customers to suddenly start paying for season tickets....
You should pay more attention to Rovers really wonderful business model re ST prices.

You should also note that the club is taking care with it's finances and not splurging it all in one season, they're banking some for a rainy day to a degree.

[ThinLizzy]

The arse doesn't necessarily need to fall out of anything. Liverpool quite literally came within hours of not only going into administration, but totally going under in 2010. They are, as are many clubs; playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse with success, incoming, outgoing and the banker.
I don't think anyone is suggesting we become a credit card club, or a club who allow investors to spend money we can't afford to, nor can they. We have seen the effects. I watch Liverpool closely and I know that they know. They are investing heavily again and the longer it goes without success, the closer they get to a 2010 scenario all over again. They're not the only club either.
If. Sky was to go tits up. We'd be one of the clubs who'd be financially unaffected by it in comparison. I'd rather be where we are than Liverpool are.
We spend within our means and speculate a little and build.

[IAmAClaret]

So if the arse falls out of Sky Sports, you're then going to need customers to suddenly start paying for season tickets....
You should pay more attention to Rovers really wonderful business model re ST prices.

You should also note that the club is taking care with it's finances and not splurging it all in one season, they're banking some for a rainy day to a degree.

There are a few reasons why the business model for Rovers isn't working, and I can assure you the Season Ticket pricing isn't anywhere near the top of the list.

[IndigoLake]

£10m in the year 2000 would have got us 10 Ian Moore's. Ah, those were the days.

Anyway, that sort of fee is fast becoming small change in the PL. I still think it should get you a very good player if you know where to look though. I expect we'd get better value abroad from that sort of money.

[Sidney1st]

There are a few reasons why the business model for Rovers isn't working, and I can assure you the Season Ticket pricing isn't anywhere near the top of the list.

They had low season ticket prices for years, to entice the fans in.
That meant they were always going to struggle to increase them as and when parachute payments ceased.

It also meant they couldn't really lower them anymore to entice fans in if the Venky's were unwilling to keep pouring money into the club.
It wasn't a sustainable business model and should serve as a warning to all clubs that it's daft.

[jlup1980]

Some people are struggling to get their heads round this concept and are stuck in old money times.

I wouldn't say I'm one of them but it's been a strange year watching us sign players for 7m, 10m and 13m! That's certainly something I didn't see us doing. The fact is the money in the PL is crazy enough to allow us 30m a season in transfer fee's without causing us any hurt. In fact, if we get 20m+ for Keano we could feasibly spend 50m next season without being concerned. That is bonkers. Utterly bonkers.

[jlup1980]

They had low season ticket prices for years, to entice the fans in.
That meant they were always going to struggle to increase them as and when parachute payments ceased.

It also meant they couldn't really lower them anymore to entice fans in if the Venky's were unwilling to keep pouring money into the club.
It wasn't a sustainable business model and should serve as a warning to all clubs that it's daft.

Absolutely spot on and exactly why I wouldn't want our Board to suddenly slash our season ticket prices by 50%.

It's like their strategy at Blackburn was the completely wrong way around. You can't allow people to pay a pittance for season tickets when you're having a lovely time in the top flight and then expect them to pay more when they drop down a division! That only ends one way.

[Sidney1st]

They did it because they weren't a big enough draw without lower prices.

[Foulthrow]

If the arse falls out of Sky?

If?

It's on it's way out. This could well be the last big pay day for football. Burnley needs to learn the lesson from the collapse of ITV Digital and be prudently putting some of the current money away.

I think Sky will be in real trouble soon. I can't see people continuing to pay over-the-top money for what they offer. They no longer have the exclusive coverage that was the mainstay of their business. People are finding more and more ways of accessing content. Younger people, in particular, expect to get it all for free.

[Sidney1st]

Sky will just find more ways to block access.

Yes the sites will move around, but Sky will block them again, along with support from other ISP's and Media providers.

[Claretforever]

Absolutely spot on and exactly why I wouldn't want our Board to suddenly slash our season ticket prices by 50%.

It's like their strategy at Blackburn was the completely wrong way around. You can't allow people to pay a pittance for season tickets when you're having a lovely time in the top flight and then expect them to pay more when they drop down a division! That only ends one way.

Exactly! They already had loads of deals going on with £10 tickets and £15 local derby arrangements with Bolton, plus £5 for certain games, inc UEFA Cup. They then made the decision to have a major price drop in 2007 which brought in 2,000 fans, and a further drop in 2009 bringing in similar.

Right now, even with some of the cheaper tickets in the Championship, they're 'only' shifting 8,000 or so season tickets. And because of the pricing being as it is, a lot don't need to turn up to get their monies worth, hence the huge disparity between the tickets sold and actual crowds for a large amount of their games.

Next year, if they go down....wow, they're in trouble. That seems hard to believe, but their income would drop to around £645K from TV money, £3m from tickets, and perhaps £3m commercial. They have nobody of note left to sell either, so even rounded up, £7m to run a club of their size....