Mind the age gap! Top clubs invest in youth
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Mind the age gap! Chelsea and United set the trend as top clubs invest in youth
Young and hungry: Oriel Romeu and Romelu Lukaku are just two examples of clubs splashing the cash on players in the formative stage of their career
Welcome to Manchester Sir Alex Ferguson with new signing David De Gea
The transfer market is no country for old men, that much is clear from this year’s trading. Not totally ancient and decrepit, even, but old in an over 26 kind of way.
More than ever in the Barclays Premier League, this has been the summer of youth. Potential is highly prized as the new breed of owners apply their big-business logic to football’s peculiar transfer rules.
During this window, only three players over the age of 26 have been signed by Premier League clubs for fees of more than £4.5milion. They are Ashley Young (26), Stewart Downing (27) and Roger Johnson (28).
At the same time, tens of millions have been lavished on teenagers as clubs try to rake in the best talent from around the world.
Older players are in demand, too, but when they move they move on the cheap, like Brad Friedel, Matthew Upson and Jonathan Woodgate on free transfers. Chelsea’s first four signings of the summer were teenagers Lucas Piazon, Thibaut Courtois, Oriol Romeu and Romelu Lukaku for a total of around £40m.
On the cheap: Experienced players like Jonathan Woodgate and Brad Friedel were snapped up for minimal fee
Manchester United may have Ryan Giggs skipping towards his forties but they have not looked fresher since his generation stormed the first team. That is down to Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and David de Gea, together with the promotion of Danny Welbeck and Tom Cleverley.
Even for money-no-object Manchester City, age is everything. City have bought four players, the oldest of whom is Gael Clichy at 25 and the most expensive of whom is Sergio Aguero, aged 23. Next could be Samir Nasri, aged 24.
With this trend developing, it is hardly surprising Arsenal’s squad is under attack from other clubs. Youth is the first requirement but, thanks to Arsene Wenger’s philosophy, youngsters at the Emirates are road-tested at the top level.
What price a senior international like Jack Wilshere when his contemporaries like Jones and Connor Wickham can command such enormous fees?
The flipside is that a glut of established players of undisputed quality are up for sale but stuck on the shelf with the transfer deadline just a week away.
Collateral damage is most striking at City, where an urgent team building programme has produced a bloated squad of overpaid players, many no longer needed by Roberto Mancini.
Managers still value experience. Plenty would like Emmanuel Adebayor, Shaun Wright-Phillips or Craig Bellamy but financial sense is winning the argument and fewer clubs are ready to stump up the asking price for players the wrong side of 26 with minimal resale value. Fewer still can afford their wages.
Scott Parker is 30, paid £80,000 a week and valued by West Ham at £7m. These figures have no appeal in today’s market — even for a club of Chelsea’s financial clout — so a first-choice England midfielder plays in the Championship.
Arsenal are flush with cash and want Phil Jagielka from Everton, a club who could use the money, but Wenger steadfastly refuses to pay over the odds for a 29-year-old defender.
Within the riddle there are young players like Nedum Onuoha and Nicklas Bendtner who have been told they can leave their clubs but who earn wages which are obstructing any transfer.
As the deadline of Wednesday, 31 August, 11pm looms, teams will clamour to cut deals, dropping the asking price or negotiating loans for those they would prefer to shift.
Spurs swallowed a massive loss to move Robbie Keane to Los Angeles Galaxy earlier this month because they wanted elbow room on the payroll and within the squad limits.
The Premier League’s 25-man squad rules, introduced last year to encourage more home-grown players, have reinforced this vibrant market for youth.
If bigger, wealthier clubs want to take advantage of their financial muscle and carry extra players they can do so, but this excess must come from a group of players under the age of 21.
For a player of that age to play a significant role in the first team, they must be top quality, which usually means they cost a small fortune. If they are English, the premium is greater still.
Last season, the Premier League reported an increase of 28 per cent in the number of on-pitch appearances by English players aged under 21 (59 players made 616 appearances compared with 55 making 483 in the previous campaign).
