Clrnc wrote:
We can't compare with the top 10 transfer fees anymore because it has been screwed by chinese clubs overpaying and this year's inflation is massive.
Inflation is a factor but even within the rising prices, it should still follow the same order of priority.
Being proven and its longevity of their career is one thing, performing at a higher level at a very young age has always been a premium. Neymar wasn't exactly a sure thing coming from Brazilian league either, there were plenty of doubters but he cost Barca about 80m+ too.
Now you're being deliberately disingenuous - I'm not suggesting that being young is the problem. Neymar had around 25 goals for Brazil by the time he left for Barcelona and had over 200 appearances for Santos. Yeah, alright, the may have been question marks regarding his ability to adapt (that's always the case) but he played more than double the football Dembele has. Secondly, Neymar's transfer only ended up being around the £80m mark because of how poorly Barcelona handled the deal. It was around 50m when the deal concluded and they got hit with a whole load of legal/tax issues that cost them in retrospect. Thirdly, Neymar's marketing power and ability to recoup that fee is practically unparalleled - his influence in South America - even in 2013 - shits on most established footballers playing in Europe.
There's never been a point when the top 2-3 players in the world have been - essentially - kids with less than 100 career appearances to show for it.
Dembele has had 2 great seasons, in Ligue 1 and Bundesliga. Not exactly as unknown a quantity as Mbappe.
Mbappe is also on track for a transfer to PSG for an even more absurd sum.
I think in future we will be seeing more of these crazy fees. I mean, Madrid paid 36m for a Brazilian teenager that only had a handful of sub appearances in the Brazilian league, nothing is that surprising anymore. Everyone other than us are prepared to pay a premium, and a handful of crazy clubs will pay over the odds just to get their desired player.
I think they might - I also think it suggests there's a real lack of quality being churned out as most top clubs don't seem to priorise their own academies and the top players are increasingly concentrated in a few leagues - and specifically - in a few clubs.
