This summer has seen spending in the Premier League rocket to levels that some of its lesser sides will never be able to match.
According to statistics from transfermarkt.com, clubs in England’s top flight have spent a whopping £832m so far this summer, and are well on their way to breaking the £1bn mark for a second year running.
Of that figure, nearly £500m has come from clubs in the top six alone as they look to bolster their ranks ahead of what is looking likely to be one of the tightest seasons in recent years, and are being charged a premium to do so.
With the top club’s being charged increasingly swelled prices this summer, even Chelsea manager Antonio Conte rated Tottenham’s Harry Kane at £100m this week, they will be looking to squeeze the most out of their investment.
West Ham are surprisingly the only to have seemingly landed somewhat of a bargain with their top signing this summer, bringing in former Manchester United striker Javier Hernandez for £16m. They are, however, limited with what they can get for their price given the Mexican is 29.
With that in mind, youth and potential is where clubs can gain the most from their investment this summer. In choosing a younger prospect over a player closing in on 30, they are playing a game of probability over risk, such as a Blackjack player would if he were to stand on a 17 as opposed to risking it in the hope of a low card with a hit.
This is where the Celtic starlet Moussa Dembele comes into the equation. Having moved from Fulham last summer on a free transfer, with the Celts paying a measly £500k in compensation, the Frenchman enjoyed the breakthrough season of all breakthrough seasons under Brendan Rodgers, scoring 32 goals in all competitions and turning the heads of managers across Europe.
Having held firm in January, Rodgers has claimed time and again that when the 21-year-old does leave he will command a record breaking fee such is his talent and potential.
Premier League champions Chelsea have just forked out a club record £58m fee for Spanish striker Alvaro Morata as Antonio Conte looks to replace Diego Costa this summer. While Morata is a top striker, the former Juventus man spent the majority of last season warming the bench at Real Madrid and if we take his signings on a goal scoring basis the Blues are paying £2.9m per goal scored last season.
For clubs who cannot afford to be forking out record breaking fees for a striker who has not been playing regular first team minutes, a signing like Dembele could be priceless. If we revert back to Hernandez, who scored 13 goals in all competitions last term, as the example then Slaven Bilic is paying a comparably cheap £1.23m per goal for the former Untied man. However, as stated that investment will neither see him spend ten years at West Ham or yield a bigger sell on fee a few years down the line, given his age.
With his 32 goals last season and £40m price-tag, Dembele comes in at £1.25m per goal scored, and with his hunger and eye for goal undoubtable, the only punt you would be taking is his ability to cope in the Premier League, which given his experience with the physicality of the Championship, Scottish Premiership and brief exposure to the Champions League, should not be hard.
Add to that the potential he has to either become a star at, say West Ham, and repay any fee in shirt sales over the coming years or, with half of Europe already interest, the profit which could be made on another sale a couple of seasons down the line and he seems a striker too good to pass on.
While the likes of Morata, Hernandez and Romelu Lukaku may well bring an aura of instant stardom to their new clubs this summer, looking down the line as every club chief worth his salt should, the Celtic star could well be the hottest property in the transfer market this summer, let’s just hope he stays put.
