Has Neymar's record-breaking deal changed football or is it a one-off?
Football
transfers are now, more often than not, in the mindboggling millions,
while Neymar's move from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain last month for
an eye-popping world record $261 million has set a new benchmark.
English
Premier League clubs have already spent over a billion in the market
this summer -- and teams still have a few more days to spend as the
transfer window in that league doesn't close until August 31.
As
well as French side PSG, Serie A's AC Milan, under new owners, have
also been flexing their financial muscle, splurging nearly $250 million
so far this summer in a bid to rejoin the higher echelons of European
football.
But is this summer's spending
any different to previous years? Was Neymar's transfer an anomaly, a
freakish fee for a rare talent, or has the Brazilian's move to France
irrevocably changed football?
CNN
Sport talked to some of the game's insiders -- an agent, a lawyer and a
Premier League chief executive -- as well as fans to understand what is
behind the spending.
Neymar has impressed since joining PSG, scoring three goals in the three league games he's played.
The Agent -- 'No-one is worth $261m'
Michael
di Stefano is a Football Association intermediary who works in Italy
and the UK. He tells CNN that transfer spending, in the Premier League
especially, is at its peak.
"The
Neymar deal was an exceptional one. It's not really a transfer fee,
it's the buying out of a contract. It's not the norm. By meeting the
buyout clause, PSG had the right to speak to the player -- Barcelona
couldn't refuse it, they had no choice.
"No-one
thought they would meet the clause, but there was an appetite for the
player. Maybe the Spanish are now realizing that there are a number of
clubs able to meet these huge figures and it will probably raise the
level of the buyout, but the buyout clause is unique to Spain.
"We don't really have those in the UK and in Italy, for example, there are no buyout clauses.
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