Slipperduke
The Camden Cad
Have you noticed anything strange about this transfer window? Usually by this stage of the summer the Premier League is awash with new superstars from every corner of the planet, all clutching whopping great contracts and glibly swearing their allegiance to the cause, but with the exception of Yuri Zhirkov, there hasn't been a single big-name foreign signing. In fact, the summer's second biggest import after the Russian left-back is Thomas Vermaelen, Arsenal's new Belgian defender. Players are still changing hands domestically, but the rush of imports has dried up. More worryingly, anyone who's anyone is heading off to La Liga. Is it the prospect of a less punishing campaign or more skillful football that's dragging them there? Of course not. It's money.
Jermaine Pennant's release from Liverpool may not have surprised anyone, but when he went on to sign for Real Zaragoza last week every football agent in the country sat up and took notice. Pennant has managed to land himself a deal that will see him take home more money than his close friend Ashley Cole does at Chelsea and, for that, he can thank British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
It was Brown who introduced a new band of super tax this year that has hit the country's highest earners like a sledgehammer. When Cole picks up his wage slip, he'll note with sadness that precisely half of his wages are siphoned off to the Inland Revenue. Not so for Pennant. The Spanish government, in an effort to attract overseas executives to the country, has a five year tax ceiling of 23% for foreigners. Real Madrid, never slow to miss a trick, successfully argued for the clause to be applied to football in what is affectionately known as the 'Beckham Law'.
For Pennant, a winger whose crossing can best be described as 'vague', to earn as much in England as he will in Spain, he would have to sign an GBP80,000 a week contract with someone and even Manchester City aren't that daft. In Spain he'll earn less, but keep more. It's little wonder that no-one seems to want to play in England at the moment. Pennant may be the first to take advantage, but I bet he won't be the last.
Karim Benzema was thought to be at the top of Sir Alex Ferguson's shortlist, but when you see how much he'll pick up at Real Madrid, it's not hard to understand why he decided to give Manchester a miss. For him to keep as much money as he will in Spain, United would have to pay him over GBP230,000 a week, twice what they were paying Cristiano Ronaldo. Incidentally, this does at least explain why the Portuguese superstar was so eager to 'experience new challenges', doesn't it?
The talent drain will continue for as long as the higher rate of tax remains in place and there's no indication that anything will change in the near-future. Even the opposition Conservative party are reluctant to make any promises of a reversal, fearful that they will branded as the party of the rich. For a country still fighting expensive military campaigns while struggling to break free of the credit crunch, increased revenues are more vital than ever.
English football clubs have dominated Europe for the past five years, propelled to success by expensively assembled, star-studded squads, but all that could come to an end if the balance of power continues to shift towards Spain. Keep your eye on that transfer market, but don't hold your breath. There won't be many big foreign signings this summer.
NAME WEEKLY PAY (GBP) WEEKLY TAKE-HOME (GBP)
Karim Benzema 150,000 115,500
Jermaine Pennant 52,000 40,000
Ashley Cole 75,000 37,500
All figures are estimates based on reported figures
Jermaine Pennant's release from Liverpool may not have surprised anyone, but when he went on to sign for Real Zaragoza last week every football agent in the country sat up and took notice. Pennant has managed to land himself a deal that will see him take home more money than his close friend Ashley Cole does at Chelsea and, for that, he can thank British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
It was Brown who introduced a new band of super tax this year that has hit the country's highest earners like a sledgehammer. When Cole picks up his wage slip, he'll note with sadness that precisely half of his wages are siphoned off to the Inland Revenue. Not so for Pennant. The Spanish government, in an effort to attract overseas executives to the country, has a five year tax ceiling of 23% for foreigners. Real Madrid, never slow to miss a trick, successfully argued for the clause to be applied to football in what is affectionately known as the 'Beckham Law'.
For Pennant, a winger whose crossing can best be described as 'vague', to earn as much in England as he will in Spain, he would have to sign an GBP80,000 a week contract with someone and even Manchester City aren't that daft. In Spain he'll earn less, but keep more. It's little wonder that no-one seems to want to play in England at the moment. Pennant may be the first to take advantage, but I bet he won't be the last.
Karim Benzema was thought to be at the top of Sir Alex Ferguson's shortlist, but when you see how much he'll pick up at Real Madrid, it's not hard to understand why he decided to give Manchester a miss. For him to keep as much money as he will in Spain, United would have to pay him over GBP230,000 a week, twice what they were paying Cristiano Ronaldo. Incidentally, this does at least explain why the Portuguese superstar was so eager to 'experience new challenges', doesn't it?
The talent drain will continue for as long as the higher rate of tax remains in place and there's no indication that anything will change in the near-future. Even the opposition Conservative party are reluctant to make any promises of a reversal, fearful that they will branded as the party of the rich. For a country still fighting expensive military campaigns while struggling to break free of the credit crunch, increased revenues are more vital than ever.
English football clubs have dominated Europe for the past five years, propelled to success by expensively assembled, star-studded squads, but all that could come to an end if the balance of power continues to shift towards Spain. Keep your eye on that transfer market, but don't hold your breath. There won't be many big foreign signings this summer.
NAME WEEKLY PAY (GBP) WEEKLY TAKE-HOME (GBP)
Karim Benzema 150,000 115,500
Jermaine Pennant 52,000 40,000
Ashley Cole 75,000 37,500
All figures are estimates based on reported figures
