This summer has seen Saudi Arabia take the transfer market by storm, with spending reaching nearly a billion euros in the Middle East, and a vast array of stars leaving Europe for the huge financial incentives on offer. Manchester City star Rodri Hernandez wants to see the governing bodies in football put a stop to it.
Rodri’s former City teammates Riyad Mahrez and Aymeric Laporte departed for a combined total of €62.5m in transfer fees, but may well earn similar in wages. Speaking ahead of Spain’s clash with Georgia, Rodri said that everyone was free to make up their mind on heading to the Middle East for a payday.
“Evidently, European football loses in this situation and it is a very particular opinion of the players who decide to go out to these leagues. It is totally understandable due to the amounts of money they offer. I think it’s a personal issue for everyone to decide for themselves.”
However he called on the likes of FIFA or UEFA to step in.
“It must be controlled in some way this drain of talent because at first it seemed like it was just veterans in the twilight of their careers, but there are young people now who are leaving. They are respectable decisions, but the people who take action must control this situation,” Rodri told Cadena SER.
Many will point out that Manchester City themselves are capable of offering inflated wages that only English teams can offer within Europe, and are funded by the United Arab Emirates.
That said, in theory, European sides are beholden to UEFA’s financial fair play rules, preventing clubs from spending recklessly, although some would point out that it has done little to hinder the likes of Chelsea lately. With FIFA keen to promote the Club World Cup, competition from outside of Europe that is capable of winning the tournament is only likely to pull in more money for them, so whether they have an incentive to do so remains to be seen. Equally, UEFA can only impose rules on European clubs, so they would have to find some way of limiting the money clubs can spend from Saudi sources.
Chelsea spent a billion in 2 transfer windows. Perhaps we should do more regulations in Europe too.