Enjoy the slow transfer season

The world is currently in a worrying financial crisis with markets falling into oblivion.

Football, like everything else, has been affected by it. Fans waiting to see multimillion dollar moves this summer have had to be content with one "crazy" deal: Rio Ferdinand signing with Manchester United for 47 million buckaronis. It seems that everywhere else people are counting pennies.

With clubs short on cash, they have turned to loan and player-exchange deals to bring in new faces. We have seen the biggest sides around the globe involved in such moves. Barcelona getting Gaizka Mendieta on a loan from Lazio for one season, and Italian rivals Internazionale and AC Milan trading players between them are just a couple of examples of this.

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So what does it all mean? Are we finally reaching a limit? Will transfer fees and contract deals decrease? I would like to think so, and it seems that even some of the world's top stars agree with me. Inter Milan's Ronaldo, Christian Vieri and Alvaro Recoba have all agreed to take the initiative and cut their salaries in a bid to benefit their club.

For a long time we pundits have all questioned how much more these players can make, and it seems that now club owners are finally pondering that issue. In Italy, the country's football federation has even taken a solid step towards reformulating the game. They are suggesting that players should have performance-based salaries, where they have money added and subtracted to their weekly wages depending on how their team is doing.

It is amazing to see how much has changed in such a short amount of time. Real Madrid spent 120 million dollars on Luis Figo and Zinedine Zidane in two seasons, yet they have not bought a single player this summer. Juventus dished out over 30 million for a goalkeeper last year but have been non-existent in the market over the past months. Even Inter Milan, which seems to enjoy spending money on obscure players, has kept the budget tight with club boss Massimo Moratti resisting the temptation to splurge around 30 or 40 mill for defender Alessandro Nesta.

If you normally enjoy the summer because of all the big transfer news, I am sure you are disappointed. But I am happy about the change of pace. Let's have some decency in the game. Let's set a limit for how much some of the stars can make. Let us appreciate the fact the players actually stay at one club for more than three seasons. Wouldn't that be something to enjoy, too?

Pedro Pinto is an anchor for World Sport, the international sports show that airs on CNN International.

 

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