Professor Francesc Pujol is one of the authors of report. PHOTO: Manuel Castells

Real Madrid and F.C. Barcelona were the big shakers in the transfer market during the summer campaign, however, they did not destabilize the market. According to the latest report of group of research of Economics, Sports and Intangibles of the University of Navarra (ESI), both clubs together paid 228 million euros for Ronaldo, Kaka and Ibrahimovic. An amount that is in line with the market value of the players: 204 million euros, according to data of group ESI, which calculates the market price using an innovative method based on the media value of the players and the clubs involved in the transfer.

Among the Madrid ranks, both the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo, acquired for 94 million euros and whose market value is 82 million, and that of Kaka, for 65 million euros with a value of 64 million, were in line with the market price. There is only one exception: the transfer of Xabi Alonso, for 35 million euros, compared to the market value of 23 million euros.

At the Blaugrana club, the new signings were also bought in line with the market price by paying 69.5 million euros for Ibrahimovic, a player whose market value was 58. However, the real picture was less positive because of the impossibility of calculating the value of Chygrynskiy and Keirrison, for whom 40 million euros were paid.

Signings in line with the market and "financial doping"

Thus, the ESI of the University of Navarra has concluded that the amounts paid for summer signings should not be alarming as they are in line with the market value of the players. On the other hand, players such as "Cristiano Ronaldo generate additional income in five years for the club he plays for, which allows the investment to be recovered", emphasizes Francesc Pujol, researcher of the group ESI.

However, the fact that the soccer industry pays more than the market price for some players is a cause for concern. Thus, Manchester City's transfer policy is a case of skill disloyal, as "the transfer expenses allowed since 2007 bear no relation to the revenue it earns through the business of soccer and are spent on signing players well above their real market value," he adds.

In this regard, UEFA's initiative to establish Financial Fair Play rules to set a limit on spending on transfers based on the clubs' ordinary income is considered to be very appropriate.

The most media-acclaimed transfers

In terms of the media impact of transfers, the purchase of Cristiano Ronaldo by the Merengue club captured the attention of the media with a notoriety of 979 points. This figure represents media attention almost ten times higher than that of the average of all the summer signings.

Kaká, with 702 points, and Ibrahimovic, with 391, occupy the second and third most media-worthy transfers, followed by players such as Mario Gómez, Adebayor, Eto'o and Tévez. The list of the ten most important transfers for the media is closed by the Merengues players Xabi Alonso and Benzema and the Dutch player Sneijder.

Likewise, attempts to sign players that did not come to fruition have, in some cases, had a higher impact index than some transfers. This is the case of the "non-signing" of Franck Ribéry by the Merengue club, which had a media impact similar to that of the signing of Eto'o by Milan, with 338 impact index points.

Media value and sporting quality

Francesc Pujol, professor at the School of Economics and Business Sciences of the University of Navarra, and Pedro García del Barrio, of the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya, are the main researchers of the group ESI of the University of Navarra. This group has its own method of economic evaluation based on the media value of the soccer players and the clubs involved in the operation. The annual media value is a faithful reflection in general of the sporting quality demonstrated by the player throughout the season.

On this occasion, 125 summer transfers with a transfer value of more than 4 million euros were analyzed, representing a total market value of 1.43 billion euros.