Transfer Market
Posted by dapple1 on September 26, 2006
In European football, a player that is under contract is not allowed to leave that team unless the club terminates the contract. Usually if a player wants to move to another team while under contract, the player’s new team (buying club) must pay a “transfer fee” to the old team (selling club), thus providing some compensation for losing the player. In some cases players would be allowed to transfer without a fee, and sometimes even be loaned to the new club. If a player is loaned, he may play for another team for several weeks or several seasons before he returns to the club he is contracted to.
The highest recorded transfer fee was in 2001 when the now infamous Zinedane Zidane was transferred to Real Madrid (Spain) from Juventus (Italy) for a record 45.62 million British Pounds (an astounding 86.79 million US dollars). That money went to Juventus, and then Real Madrid had to pay Zidane’s salary in addition to that amount. Zidane was the reining FIFA World Footballer of the year, after leading France to the World Cup title in 1998, and the 2000 European Championship.
Up until 1990, there was a transfer fee for players even when their contract had expired. The Bosman ruling now allows players to move freely in the European Union at the end of their contract.
