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Former Liverpool player and England star Raheem Sterling joined Manchester City in a £49 million deal in the summer transfer window. Photo: EPA
Opinion
Home and Away
by Peter Simpson
Home and Away
by Peter Simpson

£1 million a week for Messi? China deal with Manchester City opens new frontier for celebrity player windfalls

It is only a matter of time when stars such as Lionel Messi reach this magic number as clubs are willing to pay because the returns promise to be much more

During a radio phone-in about Manchester City's rumoured offer to sign Lionel Messi on a weekly wage of £800,000 (HK$9.2 million), pundits and supporters pondered if any football player could ever be worth a £1 million a week.

No footballer should ever be worth such an obscene amount was the overwhelming consensus.

Of course, it's not a case of "if" a player can ever command such a fee, but when.

The EPL-sanctioned figures made for more depressing reading among those of us who find the unchecked commercialism and myriad leeches sucking the soul out of our sport repulsive

And that crazy payday came a step closer when the owners of Manchester City, the City Football Group, established a proper foothold in China this week, selling a 13 per cent stake to state-controlled Chinese investors CMC (China Media Capital) Holdings and CITIC Capital.

If the rumours about Messi and City are true, it's very noble of his agent (his father) to ask for the modest fee of £800,000. He could have easily sealed a million; City would pay through the nose for a football icon like Messi because the return on their investment would be swift and multiplied many times over.

Forget the Atomic Flea's ability to win games. In the grand scheme of modern football, it is his marketability that attracts City Football Group; it is in the business of brand building, commercial growth and profit. The game is a mere conduit to these aims.

Messi is equated with excellence. Scores of leading companies would be willing to pay a king's ransom for his endorsement. What's a million pounds a week for someone who can rake in millions more from the conglomerates tripping over themselves to have his photo, replete in Manchester/New York/Melbourne/Yokohama City shirts, endorsing their products?

The ethics of rich sheikhs selling out the core values of English football clubs (though many elated Manchester City fans think otherwise) and turning them into branding hubs, is a debate best left for another time.

However, it's safe to assume million-pound-a-week players are coming to a league near you very soon following City Football Group's great leap into China.

Just how supporters like you and I will benefit from this "game-changer deal" is unclear. But my, how the middlemen - aka agents - must be rubbing their grubby hands and cackling in glee. They will have another deep well of talent and opportunity from which to pluck unsuspecting players to exploit, frustrate clubs and fleece fans.

If you walk into a room and there are five people sat around a table your heart tends to sink
Richard Garlick

Indeed, according to a new report, there has never been a better time to be a player's "representative". Between September 2014 and October 2015, the 20 English Premier League clubs shelled out a staggering £130 million to these shadowy intermediaries.

The EPL-sanctioned figures made for more depressing reading among those of us who, though powerless to stop it, find the unchecked commercialism and myriad leeches sucking the soul out of our sport repulsive.

Liverpool have topped the list, paying agents £14 million in the past two transfer windows.

Manchester clubs United and City are in the top three, just behind Liverpool, with £13.9 million and £12.4 million, respectively, and ahead of Chelsea and Arsenal, both more than £11.9 million.

Norwich (£2.4 million), Bournemouth (£2.3 million) and Watford (£1.6 million) have spent the least.

Quite what these intermediaries actually do remains a mystery. And why modern, sophisticated EPL clubs cannot carry out their own human resources procurement is also a mystery.

Talent "should be scouted, not touted" as one commentator put it, so that less of the money fans put into the game is siphoned off into the pockets of these sharks, whose exorbitant commissions ultimately result in tickets and television subscription price spikes.

True, the top six clubs might believe they receive value from the millions they pay agents to sign decent players.

But ask Newcastle, Aston Villa and Sunderland fans what they get for their £100 and £150 payment to fixers, and you will get a different answer.

West Brom's football administration director, Richard Garlick, said it was getting harder to keep agents out, and thus, costs down - especially when signing foreign players.

"If you walk into a room and there are five people sat around a table your heart tends to sink," he said, noting that there often can be 12 player representatives from various countries involved, all with their hands out, looking for a commission.

Yet football law allows these Machiavellians to operate with impunity to exploit and destroy player loyalty, and fleece supporters.

As we move ever closer to the million-pound-a-week player, is it not time to curb what the vast majority believe to be a scourge on our game?

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: China deal opens new frontier on £1m-a-week player
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