European teams are poaching South American players earlier. Young footballers cost less because they are riskier bets
MOST FOOTBALL fans have never heard of Rodrygo Silva de Goes. But they would not be shocked to learn that Real Madrid have signed the 18-year-old striker from Santos in São Paulo for €45m . He joins a long list of South American youngsters who have made lucrative moves to Europe. His new employers will hope he can emulate Diego Maradona, Ronaldo, Sergio Agüero and Neymar , who easily justified their hefty fees.
The answer is not a sudden dearth of talent. Although no South American team has lifted the World Cup since 2002, the continent’s national sides win as frequently against those from other regions. Moreover, South Americans still feature heavily in the top 100 transfers—19% of them in the last five seasons, compared to 23% in 2000-04. It is just that these eye-catching deals now generally involve one European club selling to another. Transatlantic transfers cost a pittance.
The other option for South American clubs is to take the transfer money as soon as possible. FIFA, the global governing body, banned teams from giving contracts to foreigners younger than 18 in 2001—a year after Barcelona handed one to a 13-year-old Lionel Messi. But football agents are creative. In 2008 Inter Milan paid Vasco da Gama, a Brazilian club, €4m for Philippe Coutinho, a 16-year-old attacker. The teenager stayed on loan at Vasco until he was 18.
Stuck between two bad options—the Neymar approach or the Coutinho one—the selling teams usually pick immediate compensation. Most players now have release clauses in their contracts, fixing a price at which a buying club can trigger a transfer. Even these can be haggled down, however. Real Madrid signed Rodrygo for €5m less than Santos had specified.
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