...and other aspects of club economics.

somebody please explain to this novice. What is the best case scenario, and the worst case scenario. In all of football, any team below the upper echelons of the Champions League is basically a 'selling club'. Even Arsenal are now a selling club.

Even ManUre failed to hold onto Ronaldo. Losing your best players seems to be the norm.

Right now, the spotlight is for us with Zaha. But putting this aside for a moment. How does a canny manager prepare and plan for the big boys knocking on your door with the chequebook ?

As in buying a secondhand car, i would like to get maximum value per quid from my players. That suggests pay them stingy wages. But of course that gives me zero protection for them walking away and playing for somebody else.

Pay them high and you get a possible Shefki Kuqi scenario...expensive, overpaid and a total waste of money.

A high amount of money each week ? sure.

a long or a short duration of contract ? young players often get 5 years, older ones seem to roll on 12 month contracts.

mindgames : 1. feign interest in some player on the market to negotiate up the price, especially if an enemy club is also interested in buying them.
2. Pretend you are reluctant to sell a lemon, to push up the price
4. Combine some money and a journeyman to make up a deal. Theirry henry and our Andy johnson were sold cheap and went on to greatness thereafter.
5. A Fergie favourite, go onto the telly and say ''wilfried zaha would look good in a ManUtd shirt'' or something similar....totally immoral to clubs like palace.
6. European clubs all massively hike their player prices when they know a Premier league club is sniffing for a transfer.
7. Pretend interest in a player only to dump the deal with minutes left in the transfer window.

Stupidity : 1. Give away or sell cheap a brilliant player who will end up staying in your own league. It still happens. Remember Muzza.
2. Pay through the nose for a lemon.
3. Getting relegated without a clause in players contract that gives provision to such a scenario.
4. Sky tv reporter asks ''there is some speculation that you will be buying player xyz ?'' Never seen a manager stupid enough to answer the question honestly. The only answer is f....off and mind your own business.

Clever : 1. alter your valuation of a player if you know he will have much international duty, observe Ramadam, or any other interruptions to normal duty for your club. Holland just failed to qualify for the World Club? good...their players are likely to have more energy and less injuries. Seamus Coleman got broken against Wales and its the Everton fans that suffer.
2 Stockpile players on loan. Seeing as your squad can only be 25 ? have some others in reserve.
3. Get your players on international duty to use the national dressing room to recruit new talent to your club.

Nasty : Deliberately injure prized players in other clubs as a strategy to neutralize them. Send in some big lump with size 12 boots who doesnt care if he gets a straight red. What clubs/managers were infamous for this ? Sometimes you dont need a referee, you need a policeman for what happens on the pitch.

Do you take a massive financial hit when a Bolasie gets crocked at the start of a massive contract ? sorry Everton.

Do all giant clubs need to offload underperformers at a massive financial loss ? Remember Shevchenko or Fernando Torres ?

You can see that a good manager has many of the skills of a second-hand car trader. He may know the game on the pitch, but any naivety of football economics will soon be found out.

Wenger has a reputation for reluctance to spend big bucks. Some other managers spend large. Harry Rednapp anybody ? Big Sam and the transfer market ? no comment. Fergie liked players to prove themselves before committing big money.

Football Agents ? Ask Simon Jordan for a comment.

What merits on depending on your academy instead of the transfer market ?

what thoughts on the economics of footballer buying and selling ?

Edited by PalazioVecchio (20 Dec 2017 5.49pm)

Edited by PalazioVecchio (20 Dec 2017 6.06pm)

Kayla did Anfield & Old Trafford