The Financial Fair Play rule was introduced to football clubs around Europe this season; its aim is to ensure teams are not spending outside their means in order to create a ‘level playing field’. Despite the majority of Europe’s leagues underway, there’s still potentially a huge amount of money to be exchanged whilst teams pursue star players to bolster their squad before the closure of the transfer window.
Last minute transfer deals are nothing new, however, the rumoured astronomical fees involved this season have certainly shook the football world in the Financial Fair Play’s debut season. Gareth Bale of Tottenham Hotspur is poised to move to Spain’s Real Madrid for a rumoured transfer fee of around £94 million. This frivolous spending has certainly angered some big names in football; Arsene Wenger has bemusedly stated "It makes a joke of it. It's quite amazing that in the year where the Financial Fair Play comes in, the football world has gone completely crazy".
But it’s not only Real Madrid who have seemingly not understood the term ‘fair’ as Barcelona, PSG and Monaco are all splashing big bucks this season. It therefore begs the question, has the new rule actually made any difference? Some argue the only solution is to create transfer fee and salary caps, much like America’s NFL, without this are we at risk of football’s heavyweights bullying their way to success?