Ever since the Premiership first arrived, and simultaneously seemingly wiped away the 100-plus years of First Division history with it, the transfer market has escalated and crazy transfers prices have gone from being a rarity to becoming a regular feature of the summer silly season.

When you consider that Alan Shearer left Blackburn for Newcastle in 1996 for £15m, it was a sum of money previously unthought of in the English game and, indeed, was a world record at the time. Now, 11 summers later, £15m wouldn’t cause many clubs to bat an eyelid.

With all due respect to Darren Bent, if his transfer had occurred a decade ago it would have been for something like £3m to £4m and not the huge sum that Spurs are likely to stump up. We all know that football has become a far more profitable business during the era of Sky Sports and massive sponsorship deals, but have we really come so far as to be able to effectively make money no object?

"This is a great football club which will be run on sensible business lines to build a secure, long-term future. That includes our policy on players' wages, set at a ceiling of £55,000 a week. " West Ham Chairman Eggert Magnusson


Year on year transfer records are being smashed, and this has little to do with an increase in talent and says a lot more about the desperation of clubs to succeed at all costs unless they find themselves out of the Premiership and therefore not able to continue to accrue huge sums of money.

Everyone knows that Chelsea can afford to pay just about any price for a player, but should they? Andriy Shevchenko joined Jose Mourinho’s army for a reported £30m; this for a player of undoubted talent, but at 30, they were, quite  frankly, mugged by AC Milan. In relation to this particular fee, Charlton are well within their rights to demand £17m  for Bent, because as a rising talent with proven Premiership credentials, this represents value for money. The point is that it is only in relation to inflated prices that a player like Darren Bent can even be considered worthy of such an astronomical fee.

The worth of a is a player is very subjective, almost impossible to quantify. However, what is quantifiable is the money that clubs are bringing in from increased season ticket prices, TV revenue and sponsorship income. Somehow Premiership clubs are going to have to keep everyone happy. Fans are not going to continually accept increases in ticket prices. Ordinary fans (if I can use such a meaningless term) will not put up with it ad infinitum.

TV revenue is, as far as I can see, at its all-time high. The only thing that can increase this facet of a club's income is if more fixtures are added to the calendar, which is the way cricket is going, constantly thinking of new ways for the same teams to play each other for an ever decreasing audience. Sponsorship money, too, seems to be at a peak that will not easily be beaten.

Therefore, the players initially will have to bear the brunt. I find some of the salaries offered to Premiership players frankly obscene, but you can’t blame players for that. They are simply taking what is offered. Even a below average Premiership player is making around £500,000 a year. How on earth can that be sustained?

Arsenal, with the exception of a couple of relatively average purchases, have not spent money on players in the last couple of years. This has been mainly due to the cost of their lovely new stadium (very comfy seats by the way, not an Arsenal fan though), but as a result they have put more time, money and resources into their youth and scouting system, and in the long run this will greatly benefit the club.

Manchester United’s success of the 90s was almost exclusively built on a strong youth policy and clever purchases (Eric Cantona for just £1m.  Buy of the century, and I am not a United fan). Chelsea and others will have to think along these lines, because these sugar daddies are businessmen and the moment football hits leaner times (and it will happen) and they will scarper in seconds.

There is a fear that should transfer fees, and indeed, wages continue to escalate wildly, the Premiership bubble will burst, maybe not in such a spectacular way that Major League Soccer did in America in the 1970s, but nonetheless in such a way that would have a knock-on effect for decades to come.

What can be done to slow up this process? Capping wages and transfer spending have been mentioned but this seems doomed to failure. West Ham chairman, Eggert Magnusson, has apparently hinted at issuing a wage-ceiling at the club at 55k/week,  which would be a brave move but one to which I would give my full support.

There is no denying that as a form of entertainment football is currently experiencing an extended rejuvenated period, but this rejuvenation cannot be limitless and something will have to be done to give the players and clubs a reality check.