Is football losing its meaning in the current transfer market scenario?

The winter transfer window has been one rollercoaster ride. The Premier League clubs alone splashed more than £300 million in a month only after spending £1.4 billion in summer. It is always a delight to the fans when their teams enter the race to bring some top quality players to the club in record-breaking deals.

The grandeur of this august sport is at the helm. But is it all good for the game? Is it good for teams like Atletico Madrid, Tottenham Hotspur, or Borussia Dortmund who do not have exemplary monetary resources as some of their counterparts?

Turning the back pages, it was 1992 when six youngsters in England were rewarded for their performances in the youth team by first-team contracts. It was the famous Class of '92 consisting of Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, David Beckham, Gary Neville, Phil Neville, and Nicky Butt.

These names need absolutely no introduction. Why? Because these 'kids' redefined the way football was played. Manchester United provided them with an opportunity, even though these debutantes had absolutely no experience of playing at the top level.The youngsters had a manager who believed in them. If you think they didn't have the pressure to deliver, you're probably wrong. The Class of '92 had some serious shoes to fill in.

What if Ferguson had gone onto trigger Shearer's release clause instead? What if Cryuff had handed in a transfer request just to play in England? What if United had signed Roberto Baggio to don the No. 7 shirt instead of trusting a kid in David Beckham?

The world wouldn't have witnessed those legends, those deadly free kicks from Beckham, those screamers from Scholes, and those dribbles from Giggs. Surely, results would've come quicker and glittering but how long would that have worked for (at least not for 13 Premier League winning seasons)?

In a blind run for honours and titles, the rich ones are throwing some huge sums of money in the bottomless abyss of transfer market while ripping the game of its very essence which made it ever so loved.

The point being made is that the game is no more confined to tactics, loyalty, or a fierce rivalry. There is, in fact, a world of fame and pompousness running parallel to it which could very soon eclipse the game itself.

That thrill of seeing your player rise through the ranks, seeing a club legend retire on the home turf with millions of souls crying would possibly become a sight one may never witness. The great legacy of football is being carried on as always, but certainly not in the right way.