Over £1 billion could be wiped off the value of players, proclaims Richard Bevan

Over £1 billion could be wiped off the value of players, proclaims Richard Bevan

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League Managers Association chief Richard Bevan has warned the world that the market value of players could drop over £1 billion once the season restarts. With football suspended across the world, it has caused a multitude of problems and many believe that the transfer market will be affected.

Football financial expert Kieran Maguire already revealed earlier in the month that the value of the transfer market has fallen by at least 28% which will cause problems. In an interview recently, Maguire also admitted that the player transfer value will drop immensely as well which will prove problematic for the smaller clubs looking to sell players.

However, while many pushed aside that comment to over-exaggeration, stats expert TransferMarkt have lowered their player valuations in light of the COVID-19 crisis with almost every single player on their website taking a hit. It has seen Kylian Mbappe, Jadon Sancho, Mohamed Salah and countless others drop in value with the drop coming just weeks after Gianni Infantino’s comments.

The FIFA president said that he doesn’t’ expect there to be another £100 million transfer and League Managers Association (LMA) chief executive Richard Bevan has claimed that transfers this year will be tough. Bevan also went onto admit that things could become very bad when it comes to market value with him predicting that players could lose as much as £1 billion wiped off their values. 

"This year is going to be very difficult. I think it will be very flat. Numerous experts have already predicted a 28 per cent reduction in value (of players) and that's not including the impact of the coronavirus. You could see over £1bn wiped off the value of players. It will be a buyer's market and I think the concern for the game is that the bigger get bigger and the pressure on the smaller clubs is even greater,” Bevan told Sky Sports.

While football is suspended for the time being, the English FA has reiterated their commitment to finishing the season and that was compounded by the English Football League (EFL). The EFL released a letter earlier in the week where they estimated that only 56 days will be needed to finish the Championship, League One and League Two seasons. However, Bevan went onto criticise that decision and accused the EFL of a “lack of communication”.

"I wrote to the EFL saying that we would like to see weekly, or bi-weekly, conference calls with managers in each league debating (the issues); whether it's when are we restarting, players out of contract, the transfer window, when the season is going to end, (and) how next season is going to be congested as well. We're looking for our leaders not just to point the way but to lead the way, and that means collaboration.

“The managers have got thousands and thousands of matches of experience. They've got good instincts. So, take their advice, listen to their views about it. For sure, if the EFL are going to complete the season in 56 days, they're going to need 100 per cent support of the players, the coaches, the managers, the medical staff as well. Therefore, you need to make sure you debate it with those individuals, not just make decisions from a boardroom,” he added.

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