Does Spending Big on a Player Guarantee a Return?

09/05/22 880

Over the past 20 years, we have seen some incredible transfers in world football, with billions being spent on players. Clubs have not been afraid to set transfer records to sign new players and for big money, you would think they are getting the finished article.

However, that is not always the case and while some big money transfers have been worth the fee, there are others that have not.

As things stand, the biggest transfer fee paid for a player is the £198 million that took Neymar from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain.

At the time, the previous world record for a transfer was over £100 million less than the deal to bring Neymar to the French capital and that underlines just what a massive sum of money it was to buy the Brazilian.

The deal changed the transfer market forever and since then, we have seen several deals for players over £100 million. In terms of Ligue 1, Neymar has a good goal scoring record, netting 67 times in 90 appearances for PSG.

He has helped the club win the French title four times and won five domestic cups but the Champions League has remained out of reach. PSG want to win the Champions League, the addition of Neymar was to help them in that goal and it has yet to be met.

Sticking with PSG and they hold the record for the second highest transfer fee of all time. The Parisian giants paid Monaco £163 million in 2018 for the services of Kylian Mbappe.

The French international forward has scored 115 goals in 139 appearances for PSG, which is a staggering return and proves he was worth the money. However, like Neymar, he has yet to take PSG to the Champions League title.

While the two transfers above did not come as a massive surprise the deal to take Joao Felix from Benfica to Atletico Madrid was a shock. The transfer was valued at £112.9 million for the teenager, the third highest in history and it is fair to say he has yet to really hit the heights at the Wanda Metropolitano.

The Portuguese forward has time on his side and was part of the squad that landed the 2020/21 La Liga title. However, Felix contributed only 7 goals during the title winning campaign and Atletico Madrid will be hoping there is more to come from the young man.

Now we come to a set of transfers that did not work or have yet to work out. Antoine Griezmann left Atletico Madrid to join Barcelona for £107 million in 2019 and stayed for two disappointing seasons before returning to Madrid on loan.

Philippe Coutinho left Liverpool to join Barcelona for £105 million in 2018 and it did not work out. The Brazilian has since left to join Aston Villa on loan in the Premier League.

Jack Grealish has not come close to justifying the £100 million Manchester City spent to bring the England international to the Etihad Stadium and Romelu Lukaku has been disappointing at Chelsea having joined for £97.5 million from Inter Milan.

Other big money transfers that have not worked include Ousmane Dembele to Barcelona for £96.8 million, Paul Pogba to Manchester United for £89 million, Eden Hazard to Real Madrid for £89 million, and Harry Maguire to Manchester United for £80 million.

So, spending big on players does not guarantee results and in many cases, when looking at the biggest fees, they often end in disappointment.