Football clubs overspent by 30 percent on players

Neymar’s move from Barcelona to PSG in August is the biggest transfer in history.

EUROPEAN clubs paid on average 30 percent more than a player was worth during the recent transfer window, a study says.
The CIES Football Observatory, using a transfer value algorithm, claims Paris St-Germain’s proposed £165,7 million deal to sign Monaco forward Kylian Mbappe was the most overpriced.
It said the fee was £80,4m more than his estimated worth.
The study also suggests Manchester City overpaid to sign Benjamin Mendy from Monaco.
The Football Observatory uses various statistics, including age, goals and points won by the team, to calculate a value for a player.
Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, 23, left Sunderland for Everton for £31,6m in summer was called up to the England squad last month.
However, according to the Football Observatory, that fee was £23,5m more than Pickford’s estimated worth.
The study also said Manchester United overpaid by £18,5m to sign Nemanja Matic from Chelsea, although former England striker Ian Wright described it as the “last part of the jigsaw” for United.
Mohamed Salah’s £46m move from Roma to Liverpool was less than the forward’s estimated value of £63,9m.
According to the Football Observatory, clubs in Europe’s big five leagues (England’s Premier League, Spain’s La Liga, Italy’s Serie A, Germany’s Bundesliga and France’s Ligue 1) spent a record £5,4 billion, a 41 percent increase on the previous year.
Following Neymar’s £204m move from Barcelona to PSG, world players’ union Fifpro criticised the “anti-competitive, unjustified and illegal” transfer rules governed by Fifa and called on the European Commission to investigate transfer fees within the European Union.
The Football Observatory is also keen for the distribution of transfer fees to be addressed, suggesting an increase in indemnities paid to the clubs that develop players.
―bbc.com