Dybala at Inter, but with the formula ‘the more you play, the more you earn’. Frattesi to the Rome? Maybe, but you need a discount by taking advantage of an old 30% resale clause. The Milan champion of Italy, for now, is stopped. When there is no money, imagination is needed. At least when it comes to transfer market. But even the imagination, with the most twisted agreements that play on zero parameters and salaries to be spread, loans and redemptions, struggles in a Serie A left without resources.
The economic crisis of football comes from afar and has its roots in the joyful management of the golden years, which left waste difficult to dispose of. Then the Covid pandemic did the rest. There was a lack of revenues from the stadium and the football product, as a whole, suffered from the restrictions that affected almost all industrial sectors.
However, football and Serie A have several additional problems. From the satisfaction of the fans, who are the main shareholder of the system, to the increasingly complicated relationship between clubs, intermediaries and agents, and obviously the players. On the one hand, the search for consensus, which brings revenues through season tickets, stadium attendances, and all the related activities that revolve around it, needs excellent purchases on the transfer market. On the other side, a complex organization that is used to living above its meansis in great distress because costs rise and revenues fall.
One of the most controversial rumors is that related to intermediation in player trading, with the prosecutors who continued to get rich to the detriment of the companies. A black hole is also that of TV rights. The income of the past, those of the race to the top due to competition Sky-Mediaset-Rai, no longer exist. Not to mention the chapter stages. Those owned, the only formula capable of securing the companies from a financial point of view, in Serie A are 4: Allianz Stadium (Juventus), Mapei Stadium (Sassuolo), Gewiss Arena (Atalanta), Dacia Arena (Udinese) . Just look at the three main European leagues to understand what the accumulated delay is. In the Bundesliga they are 16 out of 18, in the Premier League 17 out of 20, in Liga 11 out of 20.
In this scenario, the transfer market is done by trying to find impromptu solutions. It would be necessary to make sustainable business plans, review the cost structure and work to find new sources of revenue. While waiting to do so, we live by expedients, such as inflated or even fictitious capital gains. But the attention of the prosecutors who investigate suggests greater caution than in the past. When accounting alchemies are not enough, or can no longer be done with the same ease as before, there are only two ways to go: inject new money into companies, and then recapitalize, or continue to get into debt.
Meanwhile, while waiting to find solutions, there are few deals. Those that provide for the real payment of a footballer very few. And even great players on a free transfer, and therefore only looking for an engagement, risk being left without a team: from Mertens to Bernardeschi, in Italy, from Suarez to Isco, abroad.
(by Fabio Insenga)
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