Desky: Ekitic and Zubimendi are worth more than Ronaldo and Qizu, soccer has changed

German Sky Sports published a statement talking about the problems reflected behind Ekitic's transaction of joining Liverpool by nearly 100 million euros.

German Sky Sports wrote: Football transfer fees exploded, a sport far from the standards of the past. Nowadays, players like Ekitic are worth close to the level of Ronaldo back then, although the status of the two is simply incomparable.

16 years ago in the summer of 2009, when the 25-year-old Ronaldo transferred from Manchester United to Real Madrid for 94 million euros, the football world was shocked. This record transfer fee seemed reasonable for a star at the World Football Master level, who had won all the important honors at the time.

And now we see that Liverpool paid a transfer fee for Frankfurt striker Ekitic to be equally close to 100 million euros. Although this new star is of extraordinary talent, his superstar quality is obviously far from that of Ronaldo.

Just like the past 0.7 euro ice cream has now risen to 2 euros, pasta prices have also risen, but the increase is far less than that of the football transfer market. This proves that whether it is football or daily life, prices are often not determined by actual value, but are driven by supply and demand relations, market speculation and speculation. What does this phenomenon mean? It reveals that the price inflation in the football field, which exists as a whole, has gradually become out of control. The soaring price of players can no longer truly reflect their competitive level, but has become a shrinking factor in the development of sports business economy and general inflation.

Let's have another example? New European Cup champion Zubimendi transfers to Arsenal from Real Sociedad for 70 million euros, and will form the Gunners' new midfield axis. The 26-year-old Basque man has performed well in the club and national team, but whether he can match such a high transfer fee remains to be verified.

Compared with 2001, Real Madrid introduced Zidane, the then European Cup champion + World Cup champion + Golden Globe winner at similar prices. Although Neymar, the transfer fee record holder of 222 million euros, was equally high hopes, he never won these honors. Does this mean that the transfer fee has reached the upper limit? Obviously not necessarily.

This evolution is both a dual role of football romanticism and economic reality. We are both fascinated by the charm of exciting competition and heavy transfers, but we should also maintain a critical perspective. When a rookie like Ekitic is worth as good as a peak Ronaldo, what does it mean? How does this phenomenon reflect the inflation reality in the football field and even the entire society?

Contemporary football transfer fees have long surpassed competitive value assessment, and it has become a systematic representation of economic momentum, market speculation and increasingly detached from reality. Football is no longer just a sport, but also a mirror image of the times. Sometimes we do need to pause the game, both examining the performance of the players on the field and seeing the truth behind the numbers.