'A buyer’s market': will big spenders kickstart transfer merry-go-round? | Ed Aarons

The pandemic has thrown football’s booming economy into sudden crisis – but the era of €100m moves may not be over

On 12 July 2019, Antoine Griezmann became the ninth player to move clubs for a fee of at least €100m in 35 months. Starting with the return of Paul Pogba from Juventus to Manchester United in August 2016, Neymar, Ousmane Dembélé, Philippe Coutinho, Kylian Mbappé, Cristiano Ronaldo, Eden Hazard and João Félix have all joined the €100m club during a period that may one day come to be seen as the transfer market’s golden era or the moment football finally lost its marbles, depending on your viewpoint.

Yet 12 months after a summer when clubs in Europe’s big five leagues set another record by spending almost €5.5bn on players, the global economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic means even some of the sport’s biggest names are feeling the pinch.

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from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/jul/26/buyers-market-big-spenders-transfer