English Premier League clubs may face higher wagedemands from European players due to sterling's weakness and the new50% tax rate, a report said.
Offers to transfer targets andexisting players may need to be raised to match the take-home wagesoffered by European rivals, consultants Deloitte added.
Deloitte said giving a European player a net annual salary of 3m euros (£2.6m) would cost an English club 6.8m euros.
But a Spanish club needs only pay 4m euros to deliver the same net salary.
TheUK figure is also higher than clubs in France (6.7m euros), Italy (5.7meuros) and Germany (5.4m euros) would have to pay, according to theDeloitte calculations.
"The summer transfer window opened overa month ago, but Premier League clubs are yet to make significantacquisitions from overseas," said Pete Hackleton, senior manager in theSports Business Group at Deloitte.
"The reduced value ofsterling against the euro and the proposed increase in the top rate ofincome tax are contributing factors to this."
Revenues advantage
The pound is currently worth about 1.15 euros compared with 1.50 euros, two years ago.
Andfrom April 2010, the tax band for top earners in the UK will increasefrom 40% to 50%. This will impact the vast majority - if not all -top-flight players.
Some big European clubs have proved willing to spend, with Spanishside Real Madrid having reportedly splashed out about 200m euros onthree players from other big European Leagues - Cristiano Ronaldo, Kakaand Karim Benzema.
Ronaldo, who left Manchester United for RealMadrid, will be paying tax at a non-residents rate of 24% in Spain, asopposed to the 50% bracket he would have faced had he stayed in thePremier League.
"The concern is for the biggest clubs competingfor the best talent, where the reduced tax rate in Spain gives thelikes of Real Madrid and Barcelona a significant advantage inattracting the best players in the world," Mr Hackleton said.
But he added that high revenues enjoyed by Premier League clubs meant the league could still afford the world's best players.
TotalPremier League revenues were the equivalent of 2.44bn euros in 2007/8,more than 1bn euros ahead of Spain's La Liga. The difference is largelydriven by the sale of the lucrative television broadcast rights whichare then split between the clubs.作者: mafei1113 時間: 2009-7-21 02:19 AM
sigh... but it maybe a good time to develop some good english players
