“I think we were very clever.”
The recent transfer window undoubtedly witnessed an inflation of fees.
Kyle Walker cost Manchester City the best part of £50m and Liverpool paid £40m for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, even though the player had just 12 months to run on his Arsenal contract and arguably doesn’t improve Jurgen Klopp’s starting XI.
It seems like very few Premier League players now move for less than £30m, and the world transfer record was obliterated this summer. Neymar’s £198m transfer fee was more than double what Manchester United paid for Paul Pogba in August 2016, and there appears to be no end to the inflating transfer fees.
Jose Mourinho reckons that Neymar’s move to Paris Saint-Germain has “changed everything” and that United saved a fortune by getting their business done early.
The United manager said that two of the club’s big signings this summer, Romelu Lukaku, who cost £75m, and Nemanja Matic, who cost £40m, were essentially bargains considering how inflated the market became.
“I think we were very clever,” Mourinho told The Times.
“We thought that something could happen that could change the market forever. Normally the last part of the market is less expensive, but this season, after Neymar [left Barcelona for Paris Saint-Germain in a world-record £199 million deal], everything changed — and changed for the worse in terms of prices. I think Lukaku on August 31 would have been £150 million. Matic would have been £60 million or £70 million. Neymar changed everything. If the biggest transfer in history had still been Pogba, I think Philippe Coutinho would now be in Barcelona at £101 million.”
Mourinho also said that doing business early in the window has helped his team’s preparation for the season.
“People look to the £200 million figure now. Now the players of £20 million became £40 million, the players of £40 million became £60 million and everything changed. Lukaku and Matic, now, would have cost us £200 million in total. But because we did it in the first part of the summer, it was much less. I think we did well in financial terms and well in preparation terms, getting them before the season started. That is not crucial but it is important.”
