06 Jul 2016 18:06:40
Ed002. With players being discussed with values around £100M indeed more for your Messi, Ronaldo etc. do we ever get to a point where - under FFP - these players become "untransferable" as no club could offset the expenditure?

{Ed002's Note - A very good question - but the summary answer is no, UEFA cannot restict trade.

A little history: In the past Messi has turned down a transfer to one side who had agreed to meet Barcelona's then €250M price tag, and Barcelona and a commercial partner resisted an approach by a commercial organisation on behalf of an English side with an offer to buy, or at least part fund, the purchase of the player. I am aware that in Spain there has been speculation about an offer being made during the summer 2014 transfer window, but it is "largely" incorrect. This all started in 2012 when in mid December Anzhi made an offer to Barcelona that matched the €250M euro release clause that existed in his contract, and put up what I am told was a "very" significant personal package. However, Messi was not interested in a move to Russia and Barcelona did not want to sell - so Messi, in early February 2013, extended his contract with Barcelona. In the early summer of 2013 efforts were being made by Adidas to broker a deal that would get Messi away from Nike and to one of their three high-profile clubs that they were invoved with at the time. Very quickly Real Madrid were ruled out and with Pep Guardiola moving to Bayern Munich that pretty much saw the end of any chance of a move there (given the strained relationship) at the time. This left Chelsea, and I can confirm that discussions were held about making a firm bid - at this point we are in late 2013 and early 2014 and Messi was in a verbal spat with Barcelona about getting a further extension - which the club were against. Ultimately, the player was (at least in his eyes) available during the Spring of 2014 and at that point Chelsea and Adidas made his management representatives and Barcelona aware of what they would be willing to do to make a transfer happen. Since then he has again extended his contract with Barcelona and Chelsea and Adidas have parted company. I understand that again they see three possible destinations for the player but I am not going to get involved in any further speculation at this time – but one of those destinations is the new money of Manchester City. If the right money were offered to the club, then Barcelona would be open to selling - and if the package were good enough, the player would consider any offers. The difficulties include his tax issues and the vast amounts of money involved. Manchester City have already started to try and negotiate - they may persist else switch to Suarez.

So: A number of questions were asked of representatives of UEFA in December 2014 regarding the transfer of the financially very high-end players and the impact on FFP. It is clear that exceptions would need to be put in place as the alternative could be lawsuits from players regarding restrictions on trade. As such, it would not be an FFP issue in any one year for a number of clubs but it would be an issue for any club looking to do any other business over forthcoming years.

And the amounts of money involved are well beyond significant.}

1.) 06 Jul 2016
06 Jul 2016 21:18:08
Incredible knowledge.

2.) 06 Jul 2016
06 Jul 2016 21:47:13
All I can say is thank you very much for this info Ed002. A very good read indeed. Is Messi aware of the interest from Man City and is he willing to move their despite his strained relationship with Pep?

Red Sandman.

{Ed002's Note - Yes he is aware.}

3.) 06 Jul 2016
06 Jul 2016 22:00:08
It does make you wonder, what with all the poor and starving in the world, that paying that much for a footballer is vulgarity in the extreme.

4.) 06 Jul 2016
06 Jul 2016 22:06:48
Wow, that's possibly my favourite answer ever on this site. Absolutely fascinating stuff. Nice one eds.

5.) 06 Jul 2016
06 Jul 2016 22:16:50
I was only discussing with one of my mates in work, let's say you won a big jackpot on the euro millions, 80-90 million euro, it would change your life forever but you couldn't even afford one of the best footballers in the world.

{Ed002's Note - It depends what you want him to do for you.}

6.) 06 Jul 2016
06 Jul 2016 22:30:27
Cheers ed2. Never cease to amaze with your knowledge. To the point I only ever believe what you and ed001 say.
I think I speak for a lot of us when I say this site is a massive part for all of us, and thank you for doing it for free.
And thanks to the OP! For asking a genuinely interesting question, and not when Pogba, Lacazette and Dahoud will join us for £500 million.

{Ed002's Note - Personally, I wouldn't believe anything Ed001 says.}

7.) 06 Jul 2016
06 Jul 2016 22:53:36
very insightful, does make you think when other teams and fans moan about a £20 mill player, also its not just down to the transfer fee that we now have to look at.

{Ed002's Note - Fans moan.}

8.) 06 Jul 2016
06 Jul 2016 23:37:51
That's an incredible answer to that post and just goes to show the knowledge you possess. It must piss you off when asked the same mundane questions about random players moving to us when you are capable of divulging information like this. Great site keep you the good work.

9.) 07 Jul 2016
07 Jul 2016 08:21:44
Many thanks for the insight, and indeed for the time you and the other Eds dedicate daily for the users of this site.