There’s a higher class game of
bluff than usual currently taking place in Monte Carlo. This one involves a Russian billionaire and in
the last two weeks alone over £100 million being wagered. Dmitry Rybololev, Monaco’s majority owner, is
betting that French football can’t do without the players and profile that his
spending spree is threatening to bring.
He is in all probability absolutely right.
AS Monaco has always been a
special case, their unique position in a principality allowing them to pay
extremely low rates of tax (although historically this often only applied to foreign
nationals). It is only with their recent
promotion back to Ligue 1 and Rybololev’s spending that this has been challenged. In March French clubs took the unprecedented
step of voting to restrict membership to clubs registered in France for tax
purposes. Monaco immediately appealed
and are set to hear the verdict on June 20th. They will argue that their tax status is enshrined
in law (dating all their way back to 1869).
Their current spending levels should give some indication of their apparent
confidence in the outcome.
That their current tax exemption
gives them an unfair advantage is unarguable.
On the mainland it would cost a club three times as much before tax to
pay a player the same wage that Monaco could.
Even for the Qatari backed PSG this is a concern. When they signed Zlatan he negotiated a deal
that would give him £13 million a year after tax. Due to Hollande’s recent tax increases it
costs PSG £47.5 million a year to maintain his wage. This 75% rate above on any wage above a
million Euro has done as much as anything to get the clubs questioning Monaco’s
position.
Obviously Monaco are not anywhere
near to complying with the same conditions as the clubs in the league they
intend to join. This may be a unique
situation in a domestic league but across Europe clubs currently compete
against each other with vastly differing standards of financial
management. When a Spanish team
seemingly encouraged to maintain vast levels of often public debt comes up
against a German team that has to exist with minimal losses the playing field
is anything but level. UEFA’s Financial
Fair Play is so far the only attempt to deal with this (although quite what
would be able to do about Monaco whose tax advantage is enshrined in law is
unclear).
Monaco aren’t acting like a club
wondering where they’ll be playing next year.
They’re currently involved in the sort of dream team building spree we’ve
all fantasised about being in charge of at some point. And they’re going about it like anyone would,
focussing on attacking players first.
The £50 million capture of Falcao works as both a statement of financial
muscle and footballing intent. Being
able to sign the best player in Spain not playing at the big two (and with
their league apparently not even assured) is as much of a marker as the Zlatan
signing was for PSG. James Rodriguez and
Joao Moutinho are players of great promise coming into their prime who undoubtedly
both had offers from elsewhere. To turn
down the chance of playing in Europe at least for a season is a measure of the
wages on offer but also shows the assurances they’ll have been given on how
quickly the team will be contenders for trophies. That their three big signings have come from
outside France hasn’t gone unnoticed. The
theory is that Rybololev had intended on investing in home-grown players until
they voted his club out the league. Now
they get to watch as the money flows away from them.
And what would a dream team be
without someone signing Ricardo Carvalho?
From Chelsea to Real Madrid he’s been there. Monaco allows him a last chance to collect a
big wage and tell his team mates what was expected elsewhere. Carlos Tevez, Victor Valdes, Diego Costa and
Nicolas N’Koulou may well join him.
After the transfers in the last couple of weeks almost nothing would be
surprising.
So what is it about Monaco that
appeals? Apart from the money,
lifestyle, casinos, yachts, cars and the chance to bump shoulders with the
superrich that is? The weather? That helicopter that takes players from Nice
airport and lands right outside the stadium?
It’s not as if it’s a new phenomenon.
After all Monaco have always been able to punch above their standing in attacking
players (Stade Louis II Capacity: 18523).
Vladimir Jugovic, Jurgen Klinsman, Sonny Anderson, George Weah and Glenn
Hoddle are just some of the players they’ve attracted over the years. They were in the Champion’s League final nine
years ago. They do have history.
Rybololev’s intention is to take
advantage of Monaco’s tax status to try and guarantee his club a place in the
Champions League. Either accidently or
by design he’s doing this at a time when 90% of the other clubs in Ligue 1 are
struggling to deal with new measures limiting their spending powers further
(through tax). With the players they’ve
signed you’d have to back them to make the top three this year. After that, with further signings likely, it
looks like they could be the main challengers to PSG in the immediate
future. Marseille and their 20 million
fans could have a say in that (especially if FFP comes into account) but beyond
that it’s difficult to make an argument for anyone else getting close. In an odd way FFP could be responsible for
this. If the influence of outside
investment is negated then clubs will look to other advantages to sustain
success. PSG’s owners recently made a
big deal of the size of their catchment area for possible future youth
prospects. Manchester City have begun
talking of the investment and possible reliance on their academy. Without a large area to draw on or a sizable
average attendance to contribute to their coffers Monaco’s tax situation could
be theirs.
Presuming that the ruling on June
20th goes their way (and there’s every indication to say it will)
Claudio Raneri has plenty to ponder before the Ligue 1 season gets
underway. Other teams have had success
after such massive investment but if events at Man City, Chelsea and PSG have
taught us anything it’s that often it takes time to build a team strong enough to
compete for the top honours. The way
things are going at Monaco you wouldn’t be surprised if they spent another £100
million trying to jump the queue. The
question French football has to ask itself is if it can do without them.
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