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Youth Wage Cap

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reuque

reuque

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Liverpool introduce youth wage cap to halt 'too much, too young' culture

13 OCTOBER 2016 • 12:00AM
Liverpool have introduced an Academy wage cap in an effort to combat the ‘too much, too young’ culture in English football.
Teenagers are being lured to join the biggest Premier League clubs with huge financial incentives but the Merseyside club has decided it will no longer pay more than a basic salary of £40,000 a year to their 17-year-old first season professionals.
That will increase with bonuses such as Under 23 appearances and first team promotions at Anfield or while on loan in the lower divisions.

Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur have enforced a similar policy, which the Premier League would welcome across the country.
Despite the lure of wealthy clubs elsewhere – the North West catchment area makes it one of the most competitive in world football – Liverpool are adamant the shift will serve the interests of those who want a route to the first team more than massive pay days in their teenage years. It is believed some of the wealthiest Premier League clubs are trying to entice players as young as 16 with contracts worth £11,000 a week.
With the support of manager Jurgen Klopp, Academy Director Alex Inglethorpe is also reducing numbers to favour quality over quantity in different age groups.
Both Klopp and Inglethorpe are also against Football Association advice discouraging Academy players from playing grassroots football for their school or local sides. Liverpool are actively encouraging their youngsters to play as much football as they can outside their Academies.
It is Klopp’s commitment to creating a pathway between Liverpool’s Academy and Melwood that is giving the club confidence they can ensure sporting rather than financial motivations are prioritised.

“I've always been at clubs for the long-term so when I see a 16-year-old player who is good, I can always wait for him,” said Klopp.
“I can promise that before we sign a player who isn't a lot better than what we already have, we will always use our own boys. That's how the future should be, even in the crazy football transfer world. We want to be this special club.
“That's why I am really interested in the talent groups and all these boys. We have created a situation where all these boys see a real perspective. That's very important. They need to know that there is a way through.”
Liverpool’s golden period of Academy football is considered the early 90s, when Steve McManaman, Robbie Fowler, Jamie Carragher, Michael Owen and Steven Gerrard emerged as world-class internationals.

There has been a dearth of home-grown talent in the 20 years since, but Klopp is determined to ensure there will be no lack of opportunity while he is Liverpool’s manager.
Inglethorpe has brought back Liverpool legend Steve Heighway and former youth coach Dave Shannon – both regularly namechecked by Gerrard, Owen and Carragher as pivotal figures in their development years.
“We have these wonderful stories of boys coming to the club at the age of seven and staying here and playing for the club as a professional,” said Klopp.
“Maybe for the Scouse people around that doesn't happen often enough.

“There are other examples where a club couldn't wait long enough. That's not a criticism. Sometimes you think the next step won't come with a player. Then he changes club and it's like: 'Oh yes, there's the next step' and you think: 'Oh my God, why didn't we wait?'
“I worked as a youth coach when I was very young. I got a team to manage and after one year the sports director came to me and asked me how many new players do you want for next year?
"I said: 'I don't want new players.' He said: 'Always take new players, the best from other clubs.'
"But I said I wasn't interested. I wanted to keep that team and work with them.
"You need scouting, of course. You need to have the best talents as much as possible, but I don't know the way to find out which 10-year-old boy will really go through. It's much too early at that age.
“I'd always say: 'Stay in your club, don't travel a lot, focus on your education. Just play football because it's the best game in the world, it's fun and play as often as you can.'
“It's better playing football 20 times a week in school than training three times a week with other players.”
Klopp says he would also prefer Liverpool’s youth and first team to train at one site, although that brings logistical issues. It would require a revamp of the Academy at Kirkby or locating a new site for development.
“It would be easier,” said Klopp.
“You wouldn't need to drive between two different places.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football...youth-wage-cap-to-halt-too-much-too-young-cu/
 
Silver Sean said:
Finally some sense in the game. Well done LFC.
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I agree, in part. This is a great first step and I believe Spurs have actually done the same thing (not read the article, it may say), but this is not going to have any meaningful far-reaching effects unless it becomes a Premier League or even FA policy.

There will always be a number of young players and families who pick clubs based on what is best for their development, but there will also still be those that just follow the money.
 
It's good, but it's like fixing a leaky tap on the Titanic. When kids are already earning more at that age than many of their contemporaries in other professions then keeping them 'hungry' becomes a pretty hard task - unless they're naturally driven to succeed. If there's a young version of Milner, then the wage wouldn't affect him anyway, but there are loads who lose their way, and deciding to keep them only wildly over-paid instead of obscenely over-paid isn't going to change much, I fear. The whole system of cultivating youth players has been corrupted by the greed in the game and if you don't want to challenge that then you're not going to challenge much at lower levels.

What CAN be changed is the playing set-up. There's been such a shift from producing competitors to creating technically polished professionals that it's gone too far in that direction. The coaching and the games themselves don't encourage the kind of competitive spirit that you need to turn potential into real ability at the top level. There are quite a few kids in academies who'd be off like a shot if it wasn't all so cosy. But how much they earn, and what it does to them, is not something you can just change now with this kind of thing, well-intentioned though it is.
 
Excellent step. Wont change anything though.
 
So we're advertising to other clubs exactly what they need to offer to turn a youngsters head away from our academy?
 
Unless this is put in universally by the FA, this is a pretty terrible move. Surely we have some workarounds in the way of bonuses or something to that effect though.

Surely.
 
I like how this announcement came at the same time said that we won't buy players unless they our significantly better than our youth team lads.
We're basically offering playing time over money, and tbh.....i kinda want the type of player who'll take that
 
Whilst I think this is a good thing, it does mean that we won't be able to attract the very best talent, we'll be able to attract the Milners and the Hendersons of this world, those who are determined and talented, as they'd take the real chance of first team football over the cash, but the very best kids, the highly driven, highly ambitious, and hugely talented, the Ronaldo's, will go to the bigger contracts because they believe they are good enough, and because they believe they deserve the biggest cheque. Still, i like this idea.
 
Mystic said:
Whilst I think this is a good thing, it does mean that we won't be able to attract the very best talent, we'll be able to attract the Milners and the Hendersons of this world, those who are determined and talented, as they'd take the real chance of first team football over the cash, but the very best kids, the highly driven, highly ambitious, and hugely talented, the Ronaldo's, will go to the bigger contracts because they believe they are good enough, and because they believe they deserve the biggest cheque. Still, i like this idea.
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Of course theres always the risk of missing out on the exceptional talents, but it would also stop us getting the talented but fucking thick twats. The balotellis, the morrisons, etc. Those type of players will always go with the cash because thats what they see their worth as. They don't play the long game. They want the money right now, not in 10 years time when they've earned their straps
 
Mystic said:
Whilst I think this is a good thing, it does mean that we won't be able to attract the very best talent, we'll be able to attract the Milners and the Hendersons of this world, those who are determined and talented, as they'd take the real chance of first team football over the cash, but the very best kids, the highly driven, highly ambitious, and hugely talented, the Ronaldo's, will go to the bigger contracts because they believe they are good enough, and because they believe they deserve the biggest cheque. Still, i like this idea.
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If they can see that they could force their way up the levels, rather than languish on loan with Chelski or disappear in Man City's reserves, we'll attract a fair few.
 
One of the reasons we got Sterling, Ibe, and Sinclair is because we paid more wages than other clubs. One of the good things Rafa did in his later years at the club was to identify and pool up young talent from other clubs. They have landed us 65 million plus in transfer fees so far.

It is frustrating to see young players demand high level wages. The greed and agents can be annoying. While I agree with the wage cap in principle I think it is going to hurt us in the long term.
 
peekay said:
One of the reasons we got Sterling, Ibe, and Sinclair is because we paid more wages than other clubs. One of the good things Rafa did in his later years at the club was to identify and pool up young talent from other clubs. They have landed us 65 million plus in transfer fees so far.

It is frustrating to see young players demand high level wages. The greed and agents can be annoying. While I agree with the wage cap in principle I think it is going to hurt us in the long term.
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But none of sterling, ibe or sinclair were on over 40000 that young I don't think. We'll still attract that calibre of player and we can still fast track them to the first team.
 
40K is good money but it's not diamond encrusted Range Rover money so I think it is a meaningful step on that front.

That said, if other clubs are still going to be paying loads, buying houses for the kids families and all the rest of it, it creates a weird uneven playing field.

There should be a cap enforced by the FA and checks to ensure that other forms of payment aren't given to get round it.
 
Fabio said:
Of course theres always the risk of missing out on the exceptional talents, but it would also stop us getting the talented but fucking thick twats. The balotellis, the morrisons, etc. Those type of players will always go with the cash because thats what they see their worth as. They don't play the long game. They want the money right now, not in 10 years time when they've earned their straps
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Yep, and to be honest, I'm completely fine with that.
 
It's a tough one.
Romanticism, following the dream, helping your child follow the dream, etc is all well and good.
But with absolutely no guarantee of your child making it plus the risk of a career ending injury, getting 500K or something stupid annually for your child's future, over the course of, what 4 years, is pretty tempting I would imagine.
It's the parents and clubs that don't control the money for the minor that are dick heads.
The youngsters should be given comparable wages to others around the same age in other trades and only be allowed to touch the money at a later age.
 
As we've seen over and over again, most footballer these days are mercenaries and follow the money. Look at how many players and young players go to big clubs to sit in there reserves or on the bench, never getting near the first team. Chelsea have about 40 players out on loan I think, at loads of shit clubs, and probably 99% of them will never get near the Chelsea first team. The romantic idea that kids will join our youth team to get playing time is just that, a romantic idea. If we get any good kids through the academy, they'll probably be poached or have their heads turned when they're a little older even if they do stay for their education. Their agents find it incredibly easy to get a player out of a club.
If you offered most 16yr old players 800quid a week to play in our u21's, or 4k a week to play in Stoke's, it's not hard to see who'd they'd pick.
 
We don’t pay top dollar wages for the first team players (which has been widely applauded) so not surprising that we won’t do the same for the youths.
 
With incentives being paid out for featuring in games, surely that's enough 'mitigating' factor?

Progressing = featuring = better chance of getting first team football here or even elsewhere = better contract as a professional

Why should they be paid high wages if they can't even get games in the teams (similar to being paid to sit on benches)?

Besides, Southampton and Tottenham are also mentioned as clubs who have gone with such caps. They haven't suffered too badly in terms of youth recruitment, esp. the former, have they?
 
I think it's only a matter of time before this gets adopted Premier-league wide. A sensible and long overdue policy and I'm glad we are one of the first clubs to introduce it.
 
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