Will Wirtz flop? These €100m signings serve as a warning | OneFootball

Florian Wirtz joins a prominent list with his move to FC Liverpool. Specifically, the "footballers with an extremely heavy backpack" list. The DFB national player is the 17th professional footballer to switch for a transfer fee beyond the 100 million euro mark.

It's completely logical that the entire football world and especially Liverpool have high expectations of the 22-year-old. However, if the performance of such an expensive transfer falls short, the risks for the club will also become apparent quickly. If such a top transfer flops, a huge pile of money is quickly burned.

The risk of this is shown by a look at 'transfermarkt.de'. If you look there at how the market values of the 100 million euro plus transfers looked about two years after their move and compare it with the purchase prices, you can see that the high expenses have only paid off in a few cases.

The period of only two years is relatively narrow because the advancing age can have less of an impact here and performance factors are more in focus.

16. Gareth Bale (101 million euros)

Transfer to: Real Madrid

Market value at the time of transfer: 65 million euros (01.09.2013)

Market value on 01.07.2015: 80 million euros (- 21 percent less market value than the purchase price)

15. Paul Pogba (105 million euros)

Transfer to: Manchester United

Market value at the time of transfer: 70 million euros (09.08.2016)

Market value on 28.05.2018: 90 million euros (- 14 percent)

14. Romelu Lukaku (113 million euros)

Transfer to: FC Chelsea

Market value at the time of transfer: 100 million euros (12.08.2021)

Market value on 15.06.2023: 40 million euros (- 65 percent of market value lost compared to the purchase price)

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13. Jude Bellingham (113 million euros)

Transfer to: Real Madrid

Market value at the time of transfer: 120 million euros (01.07.2023)

Current market value: 180 million euros (+ 59 percent)

12. Moisés Caicedo (116 million euros)

Transfer to: FC Chelsea

Market value at the time of transfer: 75 million euros (14.08.2023)

Current market value: 80 million euros (- 31 percent)

11. Declan Rice (116.60 million euros)

Transfer to: FC Arsenal

Market value at the time of transfer: 90 million euros (15.07.2023)

Current market value: 110 million euros (- 6 percent)

10. Cristiano Ronaldo (117 million euros)

Transfer to: Juventus Turin

Market value at the time of transfer: 100 million euros (10.07.2018)

Market value on 25.08.2020: 60 million euros (- 49 percent)

9. Jack Grealish (117.50 million euros)

Transfer to: Manchester City

Market value at the time of transfer: 65 million euros (05.08.2021)

Market value on 20.06.2023: 75 million euros (- 36 percent)

8. Antoine Griezmann (120 million euros)

Transfer to: FC Barcelona

Market value at the time of transfer: 130 million euros (14.07.2019)

Market value on 01.06.2021: 60 million euros (- 50 percent)

7. Eden Hazard (120.80 million euros)

Transfer to: Real Madrid

Market value at the time of transfer: 150 million euros (01.07.2019)

Market value on 26.05.2021: 40 million euros (- 67 percent)

6. Enzo Fernández (121 million euros)

Transfer to: FC Chelsea

Market value at the time of transfer: 55 million euros (31.01.2023)

Market value on 26.12.20124: 75 million euros (- 38 percent)

5. João Félix (127.20 million euros)

Transfer to: Atlético Madrid

Market value at the time of transfer: 70 million euros (03.07.2019)

Market value on 01.06.2021: 80 million euros (- 37 percent)

4. Ousmane Dembélé (135 million euros)

Transfer to: FC Barcelona

Market value at the time of transfer: 33 million euros (25.08.2017)

Market value on 11.06.2019: 100 million euros (- 26 percent)

3. Philippe Coutinho (130 million euros)

Transfer to: FC Barcelona

Market value at the time of transfer: 90 million euros (08.01.2018)

Market value on 08.04.2020: 56 million euros (- 57 percent)

2. Kylian Mbappé (180 million euros)

Transfer to: PSG

Market value at the time of transfer: 120 million euros (01.07.2018)

Market value on 08.04.2020: 180 million euros (+- 0 percent)

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1. Neymar (222 million euros)

Transfer to: PSG

Market value at the time of transfer: 100 million euros (03.08.2017)

Market value on 03.06.2019: 180 million euros (- 19 percent)

Jude Bellingham is thus the only player who was able to increase his market value compared to the purchase price. Kylian Mbappé and Declan Rice showed through their market value development that the expenses made for them were justified.

The rest of the 16 giant transfers recorded significant declines in market value after two years. The risk of such a deal is therefore very high. Of course, the estimates of 'transfermarkt.de' are only rough guidelines, as you can see that in reality, often far more is paid than the alleged market values. However, there is a clear indication of the performance development of the stars.

Florian Wirtz will also have to carry the heavy backpack with the high transfer fee from now on. It would be desirable for him to develop into a positive example of this list.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.

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