West Bromwich Albion

Tony Pulis blasts 'crazy' money in football

By Giuseppe Labellarte, Reporter | 28 September 2015

West Bromwich Albion manager Tony Pulis believes that football is "flush with money" and that transfer fees in the game have been "ridiculous" for over a decade.

West Bromwich Albion manager Tony Pulis has claimed that football is "flush with money" and believes that transfer fees in the game have been "ridiculous" for over a decade.

Big signings this summer have included Manchester City's purchase of Kevin De Bruyne from Wolfsburg for £52m and Nicolas Otamendi from Valencia for £32m.

Meanwhile city rivals Manchester United bought teenager Anthony Martial from Monaco for £36m and Memphis Depay from PSV for £25m.

Pulis told BBC Sport: "In my opinion the transfer fees 10 years ago were ridiculous so don't even ask me what I think of them now. It's crazy, but that's the game.

"We're in a game flush with money and money is going to move around. The top clubs want the best players, they will spend to get the best players and the market value will keep going up because the money is getting bigger and bigger, especially in the Premier League."

Zinedine Zidane was the most expensive transfer signing in the world when he moved from Juventus to Real Madrid for £46m in 2001, while the current record signing is Gareth Bale, who joined the Bernabeu for £85.3m in 2013.