As the summer transfer window approaches, specialized newspapers begin to cover the topic and make possible hypotheses sales and purchases of the tags of footballers.
The determination of value of a soccer player is very complex, both in consideration of the numerous variables that influence it (technical skills, sporting performance, physical characteristics, role on the pitch, state of health, just to name a few), and due to the intrinsic subjectivity in identifying, in addition to the number of variables to consider, including the weight to be attributed. There are some very well-known sites among fans that deal with estimating the value of footballers, in some cases they use qualitative methodologies, in others algorithms and sometimes artificial intelligence. It’s a bit like when you value a company, there is no objective value, the value of a footballer is an estimated quantity. And, just as in the case of businesses, the value is a theoretical amount different from the price, that is, the sum that a given person is willing to pay. The price represents the consideration for a concluded negotiation, a factual data, the result of the meeting of supply and demand.
As well as the value, also the purchase price of a player’s price tag is influenced by numerous factors, some very intuitive, such as the club’s need to sell him because he does not fit into the coach’s technical plan or for budgetary reasons, situations that cause a reduction in the price, or, on the contrary , elements such as the interest in purchasing the card by numerous clubs, which will lead to an increase in the price.
Some factors are very technical and specific to the sector, such as the provision in the contract of the so-called “percentage on future resale” or the approaching expiry of the contract.
The “percentage on resale” consists of a percentage to be paid to the club that sells the player, by the purchasing club, if in the future it manages to resell the player at a higher price than the purchase price. In this way, if the value of the player were to increase significantly, the club protects itself because, through this clause, it ensures a profit at the time of subsequent resale. This clause could induce the club to sell the player at a lower price (and, at least potentially, also obtain a profit in the future from the subsequent sale).
In the case, however, ofget closer from the expiration of the contract, the potential club interested in purchasing the card will be willing to recognize a lower price, as by waiting for the contract to expire, it could directly agree the contract with the player (more precisely with his agent), now “on a free transfer”. , without having to bear the cost of purchasing the tag.
Naturally the topic of price is closely connected to that of the much talked about capital gains.
If in fact, on the one hand, as explained above Eutekne.info (see “With a high brand value, football clubs increase structural revenues” of 19 February 2024), capital gains in the football sector must be considered typical revenues and represent, in particular for the so-called provincial clubs, one of the main levers for achieving financial sustainability, in the same way, the capital gains from exchanges (which will be explored in depth in a subsequent contribution) lend themselves to abuseas they can become a tool to unduly improve budgetary outcomes.
The issue of price is closely connected to that of capital gains
In fact, it is quite common for two clubs to present both operating losses and, therefore, the common interest in implementing budgetary policies aimed at maximizing the result which could sometimes lead to incorrect behaviour, such as that of “inflate” the value attributed to the players traded.
These are behaviors that have been the subject of numerous investigations for over twenty years, often ending in nothing, due to the intrinsic subjectivity of the price which constitutes the main obstacle to the judiciary in attempting to demonstrate that the transfer of the players’ cards took place at inflated values .
When evaluating such illegal behaviour, it is also good to underline that the attribution of an inflated value in an exchange also involves a boomerang effect, as the balance sheets will present, for the entire duration of the contract stipulated with the exchanged player, a greater amount of depreciation (equal to the benefit obtained at the time of the transfer). The so-called activity of player trading has recorded, in recent decades, an increase in terms of percentage of revenues and has been interpreted as a sign of the difficulties for many clubs in achieving economic management balance.
