Are Liverpool Inflating Prices?

Last updated : 15 July 2011 By Matt LeCameron

Many of which seem to suggest that Downing is not a particularly welcomed signing at Liverpool, mostly because he is considered vastly overpriced.

Dalglish’s transfer activity since he took over has been extravagant, to say the least, and it seems to have had an adverse knock-on effect in inflating the price of English players. It has brought about a situation where one player is compared to the last in terms of value, and Liverpool’s apparent eagerness to pay well over the odds has created a ridiculous valuation scenario.

The £20million acquisition of Henderson is widely noted as massively excessive, and that in turn has driven comparisons. Downing has been compared to Henderson and the price tag has had to follow suit. Dave Whelan of Wigan made references to £20-£30million players that were inferior to N’Zogbia, and it is a safe bet that Henderson is the basis for his comparison.

Is Downing better than Henderson? Unquestionably. Is Downing worth £20million? Of course not. Is Henderson worth £20million? Definitely not. But, arguably, the £35million acquisition of Andy Carroll set a ludicrously high benchmark for English players and the rest has followed suit.

It is all getting blown out of proportion, and it seems to be Liverpool’s eagerness to just pay the going rate that has created this situation.

It may be coincidence, but the facts do seem to stack up with the transfers that have happened thus far. Meanwhile, similar talent can be brought from overseas for a fraction of the price.

It is nice that English players have a good value, but it is only in the Premier League, and as the price rises more and more it will eventually force less extravagant clubs to seek their talent from overseas. It is counterproductive to overvalue English players because eventually very few clubs will be able to afford them.