You Asked About Savić - The Story
You Asked About Savić - The Story
Because of a rumour circulating, I have been asked are Tottenham Hotspur interested in signing Stefan Savić?
Spurs are interested in signing Stefan Savić but he is just one on a long list of centre-backs Spurs are
Spurs are interested in signing Stefan Savić but he is just one on a long list of centre-backs Spurs are
Who is Stefan Savić?
Stefan Savić is a 29-year-old (30 next January) centre-back who plays in LaLiga for Atlético Madrid managed by Argentinian Diego Simeone and Serbia and Montenegro for whom he has 50 caps, 5 goals, 1 assist.
I thought a little explanation was in order so here goes.
We have, as all clubs do a list of players for each position we are interested in.
This is compiled through data analysis first, scouting after, discussions with agents into the circumstances when a certain player might or might not sign, the terms they would require and the ball-park transfer fee.
Naturally, a club has a transfer budget, an owner can not buy a player or give the club money to buy a player.
The transfer window is a balancing act of that transfer budget, you try and get the most you can done with the set capital available.
Transfer fees are usually spread over the term of a contract.
But let's loom at a hypothetical fee.
It consists of an initial payment, a bonus payment based on performances by both club and individual player and annual payments over the term of the contract, just like taking out any loan deal.
I have not added in initial loan deals here, which are a) to assess a player and b) to defer payment or spread payment over a longer period, usually up to 7 years.
That would take the form of a 1 year, 18 month or 2 year loan deal with a higher than normal loan fee for each season, then the remaining basic payment over the next 3 years (assuming a 3-year contract) or 4/5 depending upon the length of the contract and any performance based bonus payments as and when they become due.
So you can see an agreed transfer fee of £30m is not paid in one lump sum and does not go into the accounts as a lump sum outgoing, it gets recorded as a yearly cost. Transfer income gets recorded as a lump sum, even though they are not received as a lump sum though.
Don't ask me accountancy question, I am no accountant, that is just how I understand it having looking into it previously. We won't get into depreciation of assets, amortisation but get back on course.
In our £30m example over 5 years that could be £6m per year (wages get added into annual costs of a player so you can calculate how much each costs a year).
If we loaned a player for 2 years and then signed him as per an initial agreement for 5 years then his transfer fee is reduced by prior agreement to a lower figure.
It depends how much you have to spend each year and when the selling club needs money in the books.If you loan a player you still own him so his sale fee only goes into the books when he is sold.
The ideal loan is one where the other club cover all his wages and you make a profit out of the deal, unless it is for player development..
In our £30m example over 5 years that could be £6m per year (wages get added into annual costs of a player so you can calculate how much each costs a year).
If we loaned a player for 2 years and then signed him as per an initial agreement for 5 years then his transfer fee is reduced by prior agreement to a lower figure.
It depends how much you have to spend each year and when the selling club needs money in the books.If you loan a player you still own him so his sale fee only goes into the books when he is sold.
The ideal loan is one where the other club cover all his wages and you make a profit out of the deal, unless it is for player development..
Think of a transfer as a series of cogs.
Each cog represents a circumstance, such as a club being willing to sell, a club having a vacancy for a certain type of player, a player being willing to move, a player being willing to move if certain playing conditions are met, a player being willing to move if certain financial conditions are met, the families viewpoint, the agents desire, language barriers, new culture, availability of European football, clubs development plan for the player, clubs short and long term plans, buying clubs annual transfer budget, age of the player, development potential, increase in value potential. potential improvement they bring to the team etc etc.
That list is huge and just like opening a safe, all the tumblers have to align to open.
There might be compromises, but the major factors have to align, just because a player might be available and you might want to buy in that position doesn't mean a deal is possible.
Throw in more cogs, like other clubs being interested offering their own visions and packages, add in your own club has a dozen or more options for the same position and one player who has you down as his first choice is in fact your third choice, while you wait to see if all the cogs for your first or second choice (who may have other clubs as choices above yours) and going to fall into place during the window.
A whole set of cogs for every potential player in every position and all to be managed within a set transfer budget, spend too much in one area and you don't have enough left for another area.
Where can we save money? Free transfers and we can fund higher wages, last year of contracts and we educe a transfer fee, young players with potential that haven't achieved their full value.
All of these cogs are going around at once and forever changing.
As a club you have to work out the implications of putting several of these sets of cogs together in one transfer window as one transfer affects the potential of every other transfer.
Throw in more cogs, like other clubs being interested offering their own visions and packages, add in your own club has a dozen or more options for the same position and one player who has you down as his first choice is in fact your third choice, while you wait to see if all the cogs for your first or second choice (who may have other clubs as choices above yours) and going to fall into place during the window.
A whole set of cogs for every potential player in every position and all to be managed within a set transfer budget, spend too much in one area and you don't have enough left for another area.
Where can we save money? Free transfers and we can fund higher wages, last year of contracts and we educe a transfer fee, young players with potential that haven't achieved their full value.
All of these cogs are going around at once and forever changing.
As a club you have to work out the implications of putting several of these sets of cogs together in one transfer window as one transfer affects the potential of every other transfer.
For a detailed explanation of a transfer process I'm going to direct you to an excellent four-part series, which I highly recommend you read as it is written by a firm actually involved in transfers.
https://www.reevaldo.com/anatomy-of-a-transfer-deal
https://www.reevaldo.com/anatomy-of-a-transfer-deal
On Savić specifically, we have tracked him for years waiting to see if all the cogs in the wheel align at any time which clearly hasn't been the case.
The current story is a mixing of stories really.
Savić's agent has said his client would leave Atlético de Madrid if a decent offer came in, meaning come and get us, we want more playing time or as a message to Diego Simeone to play him more.
Secondly Spurs track him and each time we are in the market for a centre-back we enquire about his potential availability and the ball-park financial requirements to buy him.
Thirdly a reporter, this time working for Todofichajes creating a story that Toeenham need an experienced centre-back with Vertonghen leaving so suggesting that could be filled by Savić.
Thus a rumour is born that Spurs want Savić, that José Mourinho wants Savić, that Daniel Levy doesn't want to pay the £13.48m (€15m - AUS$24.98m - US$16.64m) Atlético de Madrid want, despite that being an imagined figure itself, but that is another story in itself.
COYS
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