The Most Impactful Signings From Each Of The Last 10 Years
With TV contracts and sponsorships green-washing football, it’s no surprise that even mediocre players demand big-money transfer fees. But splurging doesn’t necessarily equate to purchasing franchise-changing or even game-changing players.
The transfer window gives the clubs an opportunity to pluck players from their previous clubs and fill a much-needed void. In the 2017 summer transfer window alone, the top five European leagues spent 4.07 billion euros on 1,704 transfers.
Most of these transfers were mediocre signings with some being even poor while others went on to make the impact they were brought over for. With soccer being an imprecise science ruled by subjective and arbitrary player rankings, it’s difficult to know if a player would seamlessly fit in with their new club. Let’s take a look at the most impactful transfers from each of the last ten years:
#1 Cristiano Ronaldo – 2018
Although he’s yet to even play a game for the Old Lady, Ronaldo’s influence can already be felt, if not quantified. While soccer pundits can rightly wonder if the money splashed on Ronaldo is merited in regards to his quality on the pitch, economists are already hailing the purchase from a purely financial perspective.
In the 24 hours after Ronaldo inked his deal with Juventus, $60 million dollars worth of Ronaldo jerseys were sold worldwide, amounting to nearly half of his transfer fee. Not only that, but Juventus’ share price went up by 33%, a week after he signed, which translates to an increase of 231 million euros.
The signing of Ronaldo enables Juventus to tap new markets. CR7 currently has 318.3m followers across all social media platforms. Such a devout following means that Juventus can dip their toes into virgin markets. In terms of value and quality of football, Juventus is largely seen as a club among the second-tier of elite teams.
With the purchase of arguably the best football player of all time, the Turin-based titan is looking to propel itself into the top tier of football clubs. According to the illustrious financial services firm Deloitte, Juventus is currently the 10th wealthiest club in the world sandwiched between Tottenham and Liverpool.
If somehow the man who scored 44 goals for Real Madrid last season doesn’t come through on the pitch, he’s already shown to be the stimulus package that’s making the Old Lady look young again.