The end of the transfer market as we know it ?

[DSG]

One way to correct market values is to remove the transfer windows and registration windows. Straight away the buying clubs aren't held to ransom by the selling clubs as they aren't restricted by a set period with a deadline to sign and register a player.

Combined that with every player having a release fee relative to the the size of their current contract or yearly pay or some sort of percentage working. For argument sake 10 times their annual salary. The average wage of a Premier league player is approximately £60,000 - £60,000×52×10=31,200,00. Now I know there are bonuses etc. this is just an idea.

If 1Rice is on £62,000 a week, you could work it out that £62,000×52×10=£32,240,00. Which in reality is more in line to what he is actually worth than what West Ham would demand.

Sancho is reportedly on £160,000 a week, so £160,000×52×10=£83,200,00. Which I think is close enough to what it was reported that Ed offered for him.

Not an exact science and fairly basic, I'm sure the governing bodies could come up with something better and a lot more straight forward and less open to abuse and creative accountancy.

Interesting take regarding a player valuation formula. The issue with hard-coding valuation is that there will be players who make a huge leap in terms of performance, but they were on a low-paying contract. If everyone can only offer the same transfer fee, they’ll pick the best team, so all the talent will accumulate at the top of the table.

I like that teams that make stupid decisions get punished — that includes us — but also can take a loss in extreme cases and quickly resolve the problem player (Alexi Sanchez anyone?).

 

[Oranges038]

Let's say West Ham sell Rice to us for 32M. Can they get a similar replacement for that amount?

Aye if they can find someone who is paid less.

Works in principle but in practice, what about a young player that develops rapidly 2 years into a 5/6 year contract and is on wages that reflect his ability at the start of the contract. His current club is clearly responsible for the opportunity he got and his development, but they would have to let him go for what he was reasonably worth two years ago rather than in the present. Doesn’t seem fair to the club that helped nurture the talent.

Now if you tied the release clause to the agreed wages accepted with the buying club, that may be a great idea. You’re essentially saying that if your new club and you/your agent value you at this much, then the club should get equivalent value.

Tricky part would be coming up with a multiple (or multiples, if tiered based on contract size) that’s not completely arbitrary and dealing with bonuses and alternative pay arrangements (if I was the buying club I’m sure I could structure the contract with contingent payments to try to get around the contract valuation that’s subject to the multiple). Then you get in to trying to codify when a contingent payment is deemed probable and should count in the release clause calculation and what’s unlikely to be triggered and shouldn’t.

Mine was the simplest solution I could think of. Obviously there'd be lots of altenatives and variations in it in real life.