Clubs in England are at war. War of a different kind. A kind that is completely unlike that which is played out on the regulation 110-yard field. Heck, those are battles, fought out on the pitch. This war is off it.
It has barely been ten days since the summer transfer window reopened, and already clubs are coughing up the dough as if these youngsters were a new bottle of wine that got better and more expensive with age. But there is a promising trend that seems to be catching on pretty quickly – rather unsurprisingly, clubs are now looking no further than their own country (for once) for young talent. Gone are the days when they looked overseas to infuse fresh young blood into their squads.
Trending
However, all of this has come at a very costly price. These days, young English players seem to come with a premium attached as both Sir Alex Ferguson and Kenny Dalglish have recently found out. The substantial fees for Jordan Henderson and Phil Jones are partly a reflection on the inflated premium paid for English prospects. Dalglish conceded defeat to his old rival as 19-year old centre-half Jones moved from Blackburn to Manchester United for £16.5m. But that did not stop the Liverpool boss from going out and paying Sunderland £20m for 20-year old midfielder Henderson, who was once a target for United.
With a grand total of one cap between them, Jordan Henderson and Phil Jones have cost more than £30m combined, but England manager Fabio Capello won’t mind that one bit. He is just mighty pleased to see some of the country’s best young talent moving to big clubs because from an England perspective, it is positive news that home-grown talent is being cherished and coveted. Fans of Liverpool and United will not complain either as both the clubs have always thrived when they have had a British spine to their line-ups.
Manchester United and Liverpool have been forced by new regulatory developments at FIFA and UEFA to inflate their bids to land ‘home-grown’ players and the investment required is quite significant. No wonder some clubs continue to look overseas at what they perceive to be better value. Nevertheless the resale value for Henderson and Jones will also be considerable, lending greater logic to the fees.
There is a simple explanation for why clubs are paying such astronomical amounts for relatively young, inexperienced players: (1) Home Grown rules and (2) FIFA’s Financial Fair Play.
- They are currently working on introducing a system whereby nine players on every 18-man squad sheet must be homegrown.
- And soon, to prevent clubs from diving into the red, they can only spend what they earn or risk losing out on playing in elite club competitions like the UEFA Champions League.
Buried under all the allegations and controversies, President Sepp Blatter and national associations at FIFA’s congress this month voted in favour of new youth development measures. The 6+5 concept [a proposal under which clubs would have been compelled to field at least six homegrown players fell through. Instead they came to a compromise agreement with the EU which dictates that eight players from every 25-man squad have to be developed within the fielding club’s national association.
Until now, FIFA youth-development regulation has not impacted team selection and new legislation is expected to be only about a year away. This explains why the emphasis all of a sudden is on top quality English talent and it has been a distinctive feature in Dalglish’s short tenure at his club. In January he paid Newcastle £35m for striker Andy Carroll, who would look to forge a lethal partnership with Uruguayan Luis Suarez up front. Not only has he given full-debuts to young full-backs Jack Robinson, 17 and John Flanagan, 18, he has also breathed new life into academy graduate Jay Spearing, 22. Inevitably though, there will be greater focus on two other players, Connor Wickham, 17 (Ipswich) and Jack Rodwell, 20 (Everton) who are being linked with moves to Liverpool and Manchester United respectively as they too like Henderson and Jones are representing the country at the Under-21 European Championship.
On the other hand Ferguson has always had a crop of youngsters thriving under him ever since his fledglings burst out on to the scene in ’92. And surely the ‘hiding’ Barcelona handed out to his men has taught him a lesson or two (albeit after a long time). He stole the march on his rivals yet again with the stealthy acquisition of Jones, who he sees as a future central defensive partner for another young but highly regarded Englishman, Chris Smalling.
Even after guiding United to a record 19th he knows very well that the retirement of old guard Edwin Van Der Sar, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville has left the squad thread-bare. But this time instead of looking for the evolution of players, he’s looking for a complete upheaval with the imminent arrival of Ashley Young from Aston Villa for an estimated £15m and the return of loanees Danny Welbeck and Tom Cleverly. That’s not all by a long shot. The emergence of Ravel Morrison and Ryan Tunnicliffe, (who won the FA Youth Cup under the watchful eyes of the master) must not be taken for granted, as they too are going to be part of the legacy he leaves behind as he approaches his 70th birthday in December.
What Henderson, Jones and the rest may not have realized as they represent their country in Denmark is that they are part of not only the next generation but also a revolution of sorts. For both Ferguson and Dalglish it’s like 1987 all over again; who would have ever envisaged that they’d be fighting it out in the transfer market again? But only, in these modern times they are ensuring that their clubs continue to meet Premier League and indeed European quota rules.
For United, their main priority now is about retaining their status as champions. For Liverpool, it is about taking necessary steps forward to reclaim their perch.
