Tuesday, September 28, 2021
Transfers for billions of euros
Bavaria amazes the “Sheikh battle”
It’s the biggest game in the Champions League group stage. Paris St. Germain and Manchester City meet on the second matchday. The two clubs, financed with billions in oil from Qatar and Abu Dhabi, have no financial shortage. That amazes the competition from Munich.
When the miracle storm around world star Lionel Messi in the “Sheikh Battle” calls for coach guru Pep Guardiola, they frown in disbelief at Bayern Munich. “I occasionally rub my eyes in amazement at how it all works,” said coach Julian Nagelsmann about the transfer behavior of the international competition, who are throwing money around as if Corona had never existed.
President Herbert Hainer whispered, looking at the seemingly eternally gushing money sources in Paris St. Germain: “I still wonder how that goes along with financial fair play.” One thing must be clear: “If there are rules, everyone has to adhere to them. We do that and we expect the same from other clubs.”
However, the owners of PSG and Manchester City, which are today (9 p.m. / DAZN and in the live ticker on ntv.de) face each other in the Champions League, don’t give a damn about the specifications. Javier Tebas, head of the Spanish La Liga, railed against the oil billions from Qatar and Abu Dhabi of “financial doping” and predicted: “If this continues, football will be dominated by 20 sheikhs in 20 different clubs.”
Messi fit again
From a sporting point of view, the duel between the finalists for 2020 and 2021 is a treat: here Messi, who probably cured his knee problems in good time, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe – there Kevin De Bruyne or Jack Grealish, who has been the most expensive English kicker in history since the summer. Also, because City transferred 117.5 million euros to Aston Villa for him, the necessary change was ultimately lacking to reunite the former Barca heroes Messi and Guardiola.
And so PSG in particular have “an exciting group together”, as Oliver Kahn said – at least “if you look at the names”. The question, however, emphasized the Bayern boss, “whether that harmonizes”. So far one has to attest: it works like this. Messi has zero goals after three competitive games for Paris.
The start in the premier class at outsider Bruges was disappointing (1: 1); City shot Leipzig 6: 3. RB coach Jesse Marsch complained that the financial conditions were “not fair”. His math skills are “quite okay”, but “the financial fair play calculation really doesn’t work out for some clubs”.
Both clubs pay incredible sums
UEFA recognized this a long time ago. Your attempts to slow down PSG or City with the FFP vehicle have failed. The solution should be a luxury tax that would have to be paid if a salary ceiling was exceeded. But because the sheikh clubs could pay possible penalties from the postage fund, the power structure in European football is likely to shift even more in their direction.
PSG has spent an impressive 1.4 billion euros on player transfers since it was taken over by Qatar in 2011, and City has spent an incredible 2.1 billion euros since 2008. For comparison: Bayern invested 784 and 877 million euros respectively in the same period. The harvest: two triumphs in the premier class. PSG and City are panting after the Holy Grail in vain. Yet.