Rodrigo Ely – AC Milan’s Brazilian Gamble

Despite all the barriers that FIFA and UEFA try to put up to prevent big clubs from stockpiling players, it is unlikely that they will ever be successful. The potential economic benefit is quite simply too large for rich (mainly) European sides not to try and benefit.

They easily afford spending a couple of millions on a handful of prospects in the hope that one of them either comes good or can be sold on. And usually, most of them can be sold on purely because they’ve been schooled by a big club, even though in reality often the schooling is very minimal.

The flip side of this argument is that of those clubs who can lay claim to infinitely less resources. They can try to hold on to a promising player in the hope that he becomes so good that he can delight the fans and leading the club to success. If that happens they will not only win but also probably be in a position to sell him on – when the time comes – for a far greater fee.

The truth is that most prefer to take the money now, thank you very much. A prospect might turn out to be a great player, true, but he might just as much suffer a serious injury playing a relatively meaningless game. Or simply not fulfil his potential. The risk is often far too high for them so they end up selling as soon as an offer comes in.

And that is if they’re lucky. Some end up losing players through the various loopholes that exist, receiving pitiful amounts as compensation if any.

To read the rest of this piece, visit The Botafogo Star where it was originally featured.