success rate of big money transfers (€80m+)

[Acrobat7]

Looking back we have had the following transfers exceeding €80m. And I myself would only class 6/21 as a success at this(!) point in time.
Figures are from Transfermarkt and in Euro.
Of course some fees are inflated due to other transfers (Neymar) but all in all a rather shocking list so far.

222m Neymar (PSG) - yes, money is not important to them and it put them on the map
145m Coutinho
138m Dembele
135m Mbappe - yes
126m Felix
120m Griezmann
117m Ronaldo (Juve)
115m Hazard
105m Pogba
101m Bale - tough one. Might lean „yes“
94m Ronaldo (Real) - yes
90m Higuain
88m Neymar (Barca) - yes
87m Maguire
86m de Ligt - too early to tell
85m Lukaku
85m van Dijk - yes
82m Suarez - yes
80m Pepe
80m Hernandez
80m Kepa

 

[Panther]

Both Ronaldo transfers, Neymar, Bale, Suarez, VVD and Mbappe are the successes from that. The only ones I'd say flopped though have been Kepa, Coutinho and Dembele. The rest are either young and haven't been there long enough (De Ligt, Felix), or they've been good but not worth their cost (Pogba, Griezmann).

 

[Web of Bissaka]

222m Neymar (PSG) - yes
145m Coutinho
138m Dembele
135m Mbappe - yes
126m Felix
120m Griezmann
117m Ronaldo (Juve) - yes
115m Hazard
105m Pogba
101m Bale - yes
94m Ronaldo (Real) - yes
90m Higuain
88m Neymar (Barca) - yes
87m Maguire
86m de Ligt
85m Lukaku
85m van Dijk - yes
82m Suarez - yes
80m Pepe
80m Hernandez
80m Kepa

8/21 good success for me.

Yeah low success rate.

 

[Ecstatic]

What is the market value of Pogba according to you? More or less than 105m?

 

[Snow]

If PSG don't win the Champions League then Neymar is not a success. They were winning the other trophies just fine without him. Mind you he has played 83 matches in 3 seasons (2,5 sort of). That's more than 2,5 million per match. You call that a success?

 

[Ecstatic]

If PSG don't win the Champions League then Neymar is not a success. They were winning the other trophies just fine without him. Mind you he has played 83 matches in 3 seasons (2,5 sort of). That's more than 2,5 million per match. You call that a success?

Add the salary...

However, he might be sold next season at a decent price and reeturn on investment is not based only on appearances, goals or assists...but also on additional marketing revenues generated (sponsors, etc), the increase of value of the brand PSG worldwide etc.

 

[Web of Bissaka]

If PSG don't win the Champions League then Neymar is not a success. They were winning the other trophies just fine without him. Mind you he has played 83 matches in 3 seasons (2,5 sort of). That's more than 2,5 million per match. You call that a success?

I understand the point you're making, including financial factor.

Neymar led them to to their highest CL run, semi-final so far, and they are arguably one of the favorite(s) to win it. For a nothing club like PSG who doesn't care about money, I think that's a huge success.

Also, not too significant, but after losing Zlatan in 16/17, they immediately lost the league title (consistent before that for 4 straight seasons). Neymar joined 17/18 and they won it back for 3 straight times.

 

[Snow]

I understand the point you're making, including financial factor.

Neymar led them to to their highest CL run, semi-final so far, and they are arguably one of the favorite(s) to win it. For a nothing club like PSG who doesn't care about money, I think that's a huge success.

Also, not too significant, but after losing Zlatan in 16/17, they immediately lost the league title (consistent before that for 4 straight seasons). Neymar joined 17/18 and they won it back for 3 straight times.

You think that 1 of the 4 clubs left in the competition is arguably one of the favorites to win it?

Monaco won the league with 95 points and then sold players for 450m the next 2 years so no wonder PSG won it back and coasted.

 

[Acrobat7]

8/21 good success for me.

Yeah low success rate.

I just cannot class Ronaldo at Juve as a success. They were as successful (or even more) before he arrived and a tier 1 club anyways.

 

[SilentWitness]

If PSG don't win the Champions League then Neymar is not a success. They were winning the other trophies just fine without him. Mind you he has played 83 matches in 3 seasons (2,5 sort of). That's more than 2,5 million per match. You call that a success?

I agree. He's 77m more than the next player on the list which is almost as much as the lowest player on the list in the OP which shows how ridiculous that 222m fee is. I know he's been injured a fair bit and his individual stats are impressive but they clearly would have won Ligue 1 without him so it does rest on their CL success which is yet to be seen.

 

[krautrøck]

Ronaldo -> Juve is a definite "no"

 

[Acrobat7]

If PSG don't win the Champions League then Neymar is not a success. They were winning the other trophies just fine without him. Mind you he has played 83 matches in 3 seasons (2,5 sort of). That's more than 2,5 million per match. You call that a success?

I get your points and somewhat agree, but was thinking more along the lines of “putting PSG on the map“. No one outside of France gave a shit about them and buying Neymar elevated the club. They will probably also at least be in the CL final, are getting healthy and are well rested.

 

[Sky1981]

When you put it on a list there's so many dross there

 

[JPRouve]

I get your points and somewhat agree, but was thinking more along the lines of “putting PSG on the map“. No one outside of France gave a shit about them and buying Neymar elevated the club. They will probably also at least be in the CL final, are getting healthy and are well rested.

I'm not sure if that's true. People talked about PSG when Ronaldinho was around and in the 90s, the Colony Capital years were pretty bad but from 2012 Ibrahimovic, Ancelotti and Thiago Silva put them back on the map, people were even overrating them and claiming that they were CL favorites around 2015.

 

[macheda14]

Ronaldo -> Juve is a definite "no"

Tbh I think it is. Yes they didn’t win a CL but getting to see Ronaldo perform for your club is special. It’s kind of like us having Ibra for a season. He wasn’t at his best, but it’s a joy to watch an all time great.

 

[JPRouve]

Tbh I think it is. Yes they didn’t win a CL but getting to see Ronaldo perform for your club is special. It’s kind of like us having Ibra for a season. He wasn’t at his best, but it’s a joy to watch an all time great.

We are talking about Juventus not St Pauli. Ronaldo playing for Juventus isn't an achievement.

 

[roonster09]

222m Neymar (PSG) - Success, his impact on and off the pitch is huge.
145m Coutinho - Flop
138m Dembele - For now flop, still young enough to turn it around
135m Mbappe - Success
126m Felix - For now not worth the money but he is very young
120m Griezmann - He is good player, not a flop but not worth the money..
117m Ronaldo (Juve) - Success
115m Hazard - Flop for now
105m Pogba - Good player who isn't worth the money paid.
101m Bale - Success
94m Ronaldo (Real) - Success
90m Higuain - Hard to call this.
88m Neymar (Barca) - Success
87m Maguire - Early to make decision, he is good player but not worth the money
86m de Ligt - too young to call either way
85m Lukaku - Mixed deal
85m van Dijk - Success
82m Suarez - Success
80m Pepe - Still early to call this
80m Hernandez - He is always injured, so early to call this.
80m Kepa - Flop

I don't think there are many clear cut flops. There are players who are good but cost too much money, they are not flops.

 

[Acrobat7]

When you put it on a list there's so many dross there

I know! The tweet about Arsenal possibly (duh) overpaying for Pepe made me look up the list and I was quite shocked.

 

[MikeUpNorth]

I think these mega-money (£100m+) signings are rarely worth it. The downside risk is huge. Of the top 10 on your list, Mbappe is the only transfer I would have made.

 

[macheda14]

We are talking about Juventus not St Pauli. Ronaldo playing for Juventus isn't an achievement.

Seeing one of the best players ever, arguably the second best of all time, as a fan is absolutely fantastic.

 

[krautrøck]

Seeing one of the best players ever, arguably the second best of all time, as a fan is absolutely fantastic.

I see where you're coming from, but look at how much that cost them. It's just not sensible. Add to that the news that they now apparently desperately want shot of him asap.

 

[JPRouve]

Seeing one of the best players ever, arguably the second best of all time, as a fan is absolutely fantastic.

Maybe but not at that price and not while playing some soul crushing football with an old team that is at the end of its cycle and will have to rebuilt itself without the money wasted on Ronaldo. Ronaldo is a great player but the only way his transfer would be justified is if they win the CL with him, otherwise they just threw money out of the window.

 

[giorno]

Hmmm. I'd say seeing cristiano ronaldo play for them was great. I'd also say he's been a success in terms of his performances, but obviously not in terms of team success. And even in terms of commercial/visibility he's not been as good as the club thought he would be

Older juventus fans have also seen a better player than the current version of Cristiano play for them in Platini

 

[Sweech]

Tbh I think it is. Yes they didn’t win a CL but getting to see Ronaldo perform for your club is special. It’s kind of like us having Ibra for a season. He wasn’t at his best, but it’s a joy to watch an all time great.

Except what Juventus need is a CL trophy and that's basically it. They've seen world class players before and they'll see them again.

It's pretty much CL or bust for them.

 

[LoneStar]

We are looking at 80M plus transfers, but what about 50-80M, and also what is the average success rate of transfers?

Yes, these transfers are supposed to be less risky in terms of impact. But they’ll still likely follow the same trend

 

[UnitedFan93]

I think these mega-money (£100m+) signings are rarely worth it. The downside risk is huge. Of the top 10 on your list, Mbappe is the only transfer I would have made.

Agree

It's why I'm not too fussed about signing Sancho, think he could flop massively.

United should be looking at signing the best young talent before they become big names for £10-£15 million; it's ridiculous spending £110 million on one single player. Big money should be spent on OT, not on risky £100 million pound signings.

 

[monosierra]

A number of these were panic buys triggered by a massive sale - Suddenly the club is flush with cash and desperately needs to buy a big name player to fill the gap. Unfortunately every selling club knows this and proceeds to rip the buyer off. I'd say Liverpool did very well with the sales proceeds while Barcelona did the opposite.

 

[Gopher Brown]

Agree

It's why I'm not too fussed about signing Sancho, think he could flop massively.

United should be looking at signing the best young talent before they become big names for £10-£15 million; it's ridiculous spending £110 million on one single player. Big money should be spent on OT, not on risky £100 million pound signings.

Literally every club in the world is trying to do that (albeit not for £10-15m). The problem is there are so many variables as to whether a player makes it or not. Our youth system is full of the ‘best young talent’ but who knows who will make it? Nobody.

 

[ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg]

I’d question a lot of your figures. Perhaps youve converted them from a different currency.

Lukaku wasn’t £85m, but £75 + add ons which clearly we didn’t pay out much of the add ons.
VVD was £75m
Maguire was £80m
Pogba was nowhere near £105m

Bale is clearly a success.

Edit. Seen you have this is € which is somewhat of a strange decision.

 

[Tel074]

I just cannot class Ronaldo at Juve as a success. They were as successful (or even more) before he arrived and a tier 1 club anyways.

He has broken all sorts of goalscoring records for Juve of course he's been a success

 

[Zen]

Ronaldo to Juve is an individual success for sure.... but he'd look at his first two years himself as a failure, they've gone backwards, especially in the tournament he went there for - the CL. Odd one I guess. But still a success.

 

[Crashoutcassius]

neymar is a success because the money doesn't matter at all to psg, ronaldo is less of a success to juve because they put themselves under financial strain to make it happen and are no better off.

maguire is a success for me because our defence has dramatically improved. we are hardly under financial strain from it... most people agree the worst thing about the maguire deal is we didn't just do it for 90m the year before, waited a year to save 10m and our defence was a joke

 

[UnitedFan93]

Literally every club in the world is trying to do that (albeit not for £10-15m). The problem is there are so many variables as to whether a player makes it or not. Our youth system is full of the ‘best young talent’ but who knows who will make it? Nobody.

True, I imagine signing the best young talent is really competitive amongst the biggest clubs. That being said, given United's history of giving youth a chance we should be in a good position attracting the best talent.

Of course not every youth player will make, but the likes of Greenwood will save the club a fortune. He could quite easily be a £100 million pound player in 12-18 months time.

 

[TMDaines]

Goes to show that Sancho is not sure a thing to be a success. Look at Barca’s bench (and Coutinho).

 

[Acrobat7]

I’d question a lot of your figures. Perhaps youve converted them from a different currency.

Lukaku wasn’t £85m, but £75 + add ons which clearly we didn’t pay out much of the add ons.
VVD was £75m
Maguire was £80m
Pogba was nowhere near £105m

Bale is clearly a success.

Edit. Seen you have this is € which is somewhat of a strange decision.

It’s Euro since that is „my“ currency (and the one Transfermarkt uses) and most of these players didn’t transfer to English clubs. It’s a better base for a comparison.

 

[adexkola]

Literally every club in the world is trying to do that (albeit not for £10-15m). The problem is there are so many variables as to whether a player makes it or not. Our youth system is full of the ‘best young talent’ but who knows who will make it? Nobody.

Yeah but there is much less risk with 5 10 million pound signings than 1 100 million pound signing

 

[Red Stone]

I just want to say that Neymar is absolutely not a success yet. He's obviously an immensely talented player and makes them a much better team, but PSG would still win that joke of a league every year without him in the team, so in terms of trophies he's changed nothing. He collects massive wages and will be sold at a considerable loss if he ever leaves, so I can't imagine he's been a net positive in the marketing sense either. Unless he delivers the Champions League he hasn't done what they bought him to do, and at that ridiculous price, that means he's a failure.

 

[Bastian]

I think these mega-money (£100m+) signings are rarely worth it. The downside risk is huge. Of the top 10 on your list, Mbappe is the only transfer I would have made.

There's definitely quite a few successes there. The most obvious being Ronaldo to Real Madrid and then selling him for a profit. Neymar to Barca too, also sold for a profit. Buying the best centre back in the world for 75m is an outstanding piece of business. And Suarez has been a huge player for Barca over the years.

you have this is € which is somewhat of a strange decision.

Probably Transfermarkt - I wouldn't have bothered converting every bit into pounds to satisfy pedantry either.

 

[In Rainbows]

Juve fans are quite happy with De Ligt too btw. VVD is a success.

What about the past like Rooney, Rio, etc..?

 

[Kaos]

Juve fans are quite happy with De Ligt too btw. VVD is a success.

What about the past like Rooney, Rio, etc..?

They're not £80million+.