Working on the internet as I do I’m well used to overuse of the phrase “bubble” and the scaremongering tactics that go with it as those with memories that run back to 1999 cower in fear of another financial meltdown based on over exuberant acquisitions at ridiculously inflated prices.

Watching football as I also do is becoming eerily similar especially as the January transfer window gets into full swing and silly season is well and truly under way.

I wrote a post a few days ago about Arsenal’s lack of English players and Arsene Wenger’s long list of excuses for why he doesn’t buy British and one which I glossed over a little was the fact that transfer prices in England are exorbitant. I don’t think anyone can argue with that logic when we’ve seen players with only a year or two’s first team experience such as Glen Johnson and Shaun Wright Phillips move for astronomical sums and then fail to even make the bench for the purchasing club although the Chelsea / Abramovich factor certainly hasn’t helped matters.

After the financial difficulties faced by clubs such as Leeds United, Chelsea (under Ken Bates they were reputedly weeks, if not days, away from bankruptcy before the Russian stepped in) and many lower league clubs, transfer fees had begun to come back down to Earth until Chelsea’s chequebook was opened and things started getting ridiculous again. Many pundits say that the Chelsea money has been good for the game overall as it spreads money out to other clubs such as West Ham and Manchester City but this ignores the fact that it pushes up prices for everyone else at the same time.

If a club chairman sees rookie Glen Johnson move for £9m and then gets an offer of £2.5m for his experienced international centreback from another club, he’s not going to accept a second rate offer when fee inflation has risen to Chelsea style levels and it’s in this second tier area of the Premiership where problems are starting to occur.

West Ham’s final accepted bid for Watford’s young striker cum winger Ashley Young was a reported £9.65m when the player hasn’t exactly set the Premiership alight and has only a few months top flight experience under his belt. Having signed the infinitely more experienced and tried and tested Luis Boa Morte for half that amount I’m sure West Ham fans are wondering where the difference is made up. Is it because Young is English or just because he’s young (boom, boom)?

I can’t blame Watford for holding out for as much money as they can get (until the player turns the deal down of course) but this is one concrete offer in a long line of inflated fees touted over the past fortnight. We’re always sceptical when it comes to paper talk but when rumours of £25m offers being needed to prise one season wonder Darren Bent from Charlton and £20m for young defender Micah Richards from Manchester City, not to mention £12m for Curtis Davies from West Brom, a player who has taken so many backward steps since arriving at The Hawthorns that he’s in danger of regressing completely, it’s easy to see how scaremongering talk of an English transfer market bubble is able to grow.

West ham need something to invigorate their season but if they start flashing their new chairman’s cash in such large amounts for very little proven return player-wise they may find themselves in even worse trouble next season, regardless of whether they survive or not this year.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 16th, 2007 at 8:28 am and is filed under West Ham United. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.