Source: Telegraph
Liverpool and Arsenal eye Bosman signings as harsh economic climate bites
For 14 years, football has cursed the name of Jean-Marc Bosman, the Belgian journeyman whose demand for freedom of movement at the end of his contract robbed the game's grandest institutions, its clubs, of their power, and handed it to players. [LNB]His case sparked rampant inflation, spiralling wages and transfer fees and triggered the game's great arms race. Football's Prometheus, though, may find his reputation restored come 2010. This is the year when Bosman is unbound. [LNB] Related ArticlesDouble standards still rife over World Cup fearsPremier League actionBrown: World Cup must be in doubtRedknapp wants to keep Keane at TottenhamSport on televisionHarsh economic reality has finally settled on football. Aside from the oil- and vanity-fuelled spending sprees at Real Madrid and Manchester City, princes and paupers alike are starting to feel the pinch. [LNB]Even Barcelona, Champions League holders and ordinarily as prone to loosening the purse strings as their nemeses in Madrid, admitted it made more "financial sense" to recruit from the youth team than sign experienced cover when Seydou Keita and Yaya Toure departed for the African Nations Cup. Wallets are being watched, and that, ironically, is where Bosman comes in. [LNB]It was Bosman, of course, and the eponymous ruling of the European court, which played no small part in the emptying of those coffers. By assuring that players could leave for nothing at the end of their contracts, the law drove up wages, forcing clubs to place and others to spend a premium on their assets to balance the books. [LNB]While the ruling has already seen a handful of high-profile players, most recently Michael Owen, switch clubs, this summer seems set to produce dozens of international-class players, from across Europe, out of contract. [LNB]At Chelsea alone, Juliano Belletti, Joe Cole and Michael Ballack will all see their current deals expire. Liverpool have yet to agree terms with Fabio Aurelio, the Brazilian full-back, while Sunderland are believed to be leading the chase for Adam Johnson. Should Steve Bruce miss out on the Middlesbrough player, he may choose to go for Morten Gamst Pedersen, the Blackburn winger, or Manchester City's Martin Petrov. [LNB]Cardiff already fear Joe Ledley, for many years one of their most saleable assets, will leave for nothing, while contract discussions are ongoing at Everton and Arsenal for Louis Saha and William Gallas. Alex McLeish, the Birmingham manager, would not be alone in coveting Kris Boyd, the Rangers striker and the most prolific goalscorer in the history of the Scottish Premier League. [LNB]In Spain, too, some 87 players in La Liga alone are now eligible to sign pre-contract agreements for the summer with clubs abroad. Among their number are three players deemed surplus to requirements at Real Madrid Jerzy Dudek, Ruud van Nistelrooy and the injury-plagued German international defender Christoph Metzelder brought in at a cost of more than £42 million. [LNB]The most enticing prospect for clubs all over Europe, though, is Sergio Canales, the 18-year-old defender who has emerged at Racing Santander. Real Madrid and Sevilla have already contacted the player, while Deportivo La Coruna are believed to be considering exercising a contractual first option they have agreed with his current club. [LNB]The situation is replicated across the continent. In France, Marouane Chamakh, the Bordeaux and Morocco striker, has long been courted by Arsenal, though Liverpool are now believed to be in pole position to tempt him. Sidney Govou and Kim Kallstrom, the Lyon duo, seem suited to the blood and thunder of the English game too. Kevin Kuranyi, Thomas Hitzlsperger and Daniel van Buyten are the pick of the Bundesliga, Robert Acquafresca, the Atalanta striker, a blooming Serie A star. [LNB]With clubs saving money on fees, prospective employees know they can demand higher wages, ever more astronomical signing-on fees. As the game's freakonomics contract and collapse, though, that is a price clubs will have to pay. Even in the age of Bosman, there is no such thing as a free transfer. [LNB]
