please log in to view this image Is it past 12? Yep, the market is finally closed. The exodus is complete. September 3d has arrived and silence dominates the football markets. As the dust settles, the agents, players, technical directors and managers can finally get some sleep. When the day breaks and reality kicks back in, the league is left with teams in shambles; talents and creativity have to be found in what remains in the Eredivisie. And it isn’t much, I can tell you that. Here is an overview of all the major transfers this summer(every transfer above one million euros): Kevin Strootman: PSV -> AS Roma 16.5m € Wilfried Bony: Vitesse -> Swansea City 13.9m € Christian Eriksen: Ajax -> Tottenham Hotspur 13.5m € Jozy Altidore: AZ Alkmaar -> Sunderland 10m € Dries Mertens: PSV -> Napoli 9.7m € Marco van Ginkel: Vitesse -> Chelsea 9.4m € Jeremain Lens: PSV -> Dynamo Kiev 9m € Nacer Chadli: FC Twente -> Tottenham Hotspur 8.15m € Toby Alderweireld: Ajax -> Atletico Madrid 7m € Filip Djuricic: SC Heerenveen -> Benfica 6m € Leroy Fer: FC Twente -> Norwich City 5.5m € Erik Pieters: PSV -> Stoke City 3.6m € Virgil van Dijk: FC Groningen -> Celtic 3m € Marcelo: PSV -> Hannover 96 2.75m € Derk Boerrigter: Ajax -> Celtic 2.5m € Sanharib Malki: Roda JC -> Kasimpasa 1.5m € Leandro Bacuna: FC Groningen -> Aston Villa 1m € Figures from Transfermarkt.com and Dutch media. please log in to view this image Strootman's transfer to AS Roma was the biggest this summer. Add all the transfers up and you get a staggering 111.3 million euros in profit for the entire Eredivisie. There was only one league in the world that made more profit than the Dutch league: the Brazilian Série A which made a 183 million profit, with a bit of help from Neymar(57m) and Shakhtar Donetsk which spent 60 million on four players from Brazil. But still, a 111 million euros. We could’ve got Gareth Bale and barely a year’s salary with that! That may all sound great but the league is now deprived of any developed talent and the few that are remaining are already looking for options in the winter transfer period, like Tadic, Toivonen and Finnbogason. This season Ajax, PSV and FC Twente are falling back on their youth academy hoping that new talent will stand up and develop. Now with the last generation out of the way the youngsters can rise up again and gain experience, progress and hopefully by the end of the season, the Eredivisie will have produced another generation of prospects and sensations. But judging from the first five rounds, the quality of the players has obviously dropped, though some exciting players have come in on loans this summer. The main worry is that with a new broadcast contract with Fox Sports and the hundreds of millions of euros coming in through transfers, the clubs will drop their ambitions in favour of the money. Johan Cruijff himself stated that he wants to bring Ajax to a level that they can win the Europa League or Champions League again. Selling Eriksen and Alderweireld won’t do them any good and even though the money is helpful, an international title will be out of the equation for the next five, maybe ten years. Same goes for PSV and Feyenoord. The clubs are not willing to spend and the fans are the victims as always. They watch the news, jealous of the clubs in England, Italy and Spain who can spend hundreds of millions without repercussions from the UEFA or FA. Whilst we count our euros(grateful the clubs are not going bust but get to play their matches for another couple of seasons), Real Madrid can spend 99 million euros on Bale, Arsenal splash out 45 million on Ãzil, and Napoli pay 37 million for HiguaÃn, just to name a few. The Dutch clubs can’t wait for FFP to go into full effect. They hope they can finally compete with the big leagues like in the old days once the UEFA implements it in full. And to be frank, I hope I’ll still be alive when that day comes, because that might take decades. please log in to view this image Erwin and Ronald Koeman cheering for the money Fox throws at them!
[video=youtube;_pk0vE-MM_g]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=_pk0vE-MM_g[/video]
Something is wrong when one of the great clubs of Europe - Ajax - can't compete financially with the lesser PL teams and are effectively a feeder club for them.
Is this some sort of WUM attempt seeing as the only prem club who bought an Ajax player is Spurs? Its a piss-poor attempt
Think he's reminiscing the old days of Ajax, rather than being a WUM, he is right, Ajax, Feyenoord and PSV are feeder clubs nowadays
Everything below top8, not making it to Europe? I don't know, ask him. Or if he is talking about ManU, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool then yea, those four are the most well known around the globe.
It can be argued there's a similar exodis from Serie A... Edinson Cavani - Napoli to PSG Stevan Jovetic - Fiorentina to City Erik Lamela - Roma to Spurs Marquinhos - Roma to PSG Maarten Stekelenberg - Roma to Fulham Pablo Osvaldo - Roma to Southampton Kevin Prince-Boateng - Milan to Schalke Emanuele Giaccherini - Juventus to Sunderland
Holland's population is around 15m. It's surprising that they've managed to do so well for so long, but it's not surprising that they can't compete financially with much bigger countries. They have a system that the Scottish would do well to emulate, for a start. Might even produce one or two players worth having, rather than paying out for crap.
16.8m And with a GDP much higher than the UK, Italy or Spain: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_%28PPP%29_per_capita
It's doubtful that Denmark will make the WC, as they need the following to happen: * Denmark win in Malta * Italy beat Bulgaria in Palermo * The Czech Republic drop points against Armenia in Prague * Denmark win in Armenia * Italy beat the Czech Republic in Turin * Bulgaria drop points against Malta in Ta'Qali * Denmark get at least a draw with Italy in Copenhagen * Bulgaria drop points to Armenia in Yerevan * The Czech Republic drop points to Malta in Ta'Qali * Denmark beat Malta in Copenhagen * Bulgaria and the Czech Republic draw in Sofia
No, I'm lumping Ajax in with the other Dutch clubs who seem to be selling all their top players to sides other than the CL clubs - and not for huge sums.
Sounds do-able But Eriksen was more of an example. Many players turned down clubs to find a higher profile club with a guaranteed first eleven spot.
