The Full Story of how £70million has been spent under Tan
Thu Jan 15, 2015 8:08 am
The full story of Cardiff City's remarkable transfer dealings under Vincent Tan: £70m and a new player every three weeks!
Thursday Jan 15, 2015
By Chris Wathan
Cardiff City have signed an incredible 71 players under Vincent Tan, while 45 Bluebirds have left the club since the Malaysian billionaire took control
The remarkable figures behind Cardiff City’s revolving door transfer regime under Vincent Tan are today laid bare – revealing a turnover of more than a hundred players in less than five years and an outlay of almost £70m.
Less than three weeks remain of the current transfer window with Bluebirds boss Russell Slade keen to add numbers to his squad as he vows to turn the class of 2014/15 into ‘his side’.
But with Javi Guerra set to complete his loan exit to Malaga after just 41 minutes of Championship football, Guido Burgstaller told he has no future in South Wales and Jo Inge Berget set to have his contract cancelled after just 11 minutes of league action, it is clear the Cardiff chief has been told he must make room in a bloated squad for arrivals to add to Scott Malone and Alex Revell.
We reported yesterday how it could see as many as ten Bluebirds quit the club over the winter window, not including loan exits, with question marks hanging over the futures of Fabio, Nicky Maynard and Kim Bo-Kyung.
Yet the turnaround in players under four managers has been a hallmark of the Tan era which has seen 54 players signed permanently since the Malaysian became the club’s majority shareholder in May 2010.
That figure does not include 17 players signed on loan in that time – just four-and-a-half seasons – which takes the tally of new faces through the Cardiff City Stadium doors to a staggering 71. Broken down, that’s roughly one new player every 24 days!
Cardiff City's transfer deals
£68.5m
Money spent on players
£32.8m
Money recouped from sales
£35.7m
Net spend
Figures based on reported transfer fees
There is an equally high proportion of exits too, with 45 players sold or released during that time – with that number likely to rise with several being lined up for departures by Slade.
But whereas there was cash paid for 35 of their permanent transfers, only 13 of the player sales over the period garnered a fee.
From the players who were both bought and sold during the Tan era, covering the managerial stints of Dave Jones, Malky Mackay, Ole Gunnar Solskajaer and the present boss, Slade, there have been losses made on at least seven players – most notably Andreas Cornelius – with Berget, Burgstaller and potentially Kim and Maynard likely to further swell that figure. In terms of making a profit, only the sale of Jordon Mutch for £6m after his £2m arrival represented a significant profit, one of just four transfers to swing into the black.
While it is difficult to find total accuracy given clubs often either leave transfer fees undisclosed or there is a disparity between the buying and selling clubs in terms of final figures, the reported details used will not be far away from the reality.
' Total spending under managers '
Malky Mackay
27 April 2013 of Cardiff City Chairman Vincent Tan (left) and manager Malky Mackay.
£46.6m
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
Cardiff City's owner Vincent Tan alongside Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (centre) during the Barclays Premier League match at the Emirates Stadium, London. January 1, 2014, 2013.
£21.3m
Russell Slade
Cardiff City manager Russell Slade
£0.275m
Figures based on reported transfer fees
And even without taking into account loan fees for high-profile short-term signings such as Wilfried Zaha and Ravel Morrison or signing-on fees for some of the Bosman frees – traditionally higher than standard ‘welcome bonuses’ – it has seen the club hand over an estimated £68.575m in the space of four-and-a-half years.
There has been an estimated £32.875m recouped from sales, with almost £25m of that coming last summer, meaning the net spend has been £35.7m since Tan first took over.
The transfer spending only really exploded into life following Tan’s increased involvement around the time of the controversial rebrand in the summer of 2012; his first two seasons seeing a net outlay of under £700,000.
' Vincent Tan '
The last two windows have also seen a greater ‘balancing of the books’ with Solskjaer’s reign actually seeing more money come in from transfers than going out, thanks in main to the virtual break-even sales of Steven Caulker and Gary Medel as well as the profits from Mutch’s departure to QPR.
However, just as the stark figures do not give a context over a transfer’s true value – the free signing of Heidar Helguson with his eight goals in the promotion season, a good example of a value for money – neither do they tell the full story of Solskjaer’s time in charge.
With Eikrem and Cala both having been paid up with 18 months left on their contracts, Cala joining after a reported £1m fee was paid to Getafe to waive a previous pre-contract he had signed with them, the outlay figure is in reality greater than just adding up reported fees.
Burgstaller could yet go the same way with £2m striker Berget also falling into the category. Midfielder Kagisho Dikgacoi signed on a free with then Palace boss Tony Pulis saying it was “a very well paid” contract and a “fantastic offer”. But circumstances have limited his playing time to just 74 minutes in the Championship.
' Success, failure... and a different approach '
It would be remiss not to mention the successes of this era, with several signings proving to be good value, bringing results on the pitch and proving to be bargains even if not also profit-making on re-sale.
However, the numbers do show the problems in the club’s attempts to switch from one style to another without a clear football direction, as differing types of players were brought on board with others having to be shipped out quickly.
Indeed, it is difficult to describe the likes of Berget, Burgstaller, Guerra and Cala as flops given the lack of time or opportunity for those on the outside to pass judgement.
It is difficult to know accurately where to attribute blame, if any, but few clubs are able to sustain success on or off the pitch with such large turnovers of players and such instability in the playing squad.
To his credit, Tan has pushed the green-light on unprecedented levels of spending, both before and after the Premier League payments were accounted for.
However, having criticised Mackay for his transfer activity and promising greater involvement to stop such problems under Solskjaer, the looming exits of several signings from the past two windows does not reflect particularly well.
A transfer committee was set up in the immediate wake of the first issues with Mackay and the initial appointment of Alisher Apsalyamov as transfer recruitment chief but whereas many clubs have attempted to sign a certain type of player to fit that particular club, it appears from the outside that players have been signed to suit a manager at Cardiff City – and the club has suffered when managers have moved on.
Slade’s first two signings suggests a different approach again, both in type of players and size of fee but it remains to be seen whether it proves successful in slowing the Cardiff City Stadium revolving door.
Thursday Jan 15, 2015
By Chris Wathan
Cardiff City have signed an incredible 71 players under Vincent Tan, while 45 Bluebirds have left the club since the Malaysian billionaire took control
The remarkable figures behind Cardiff City’s revolving door transfer regime under Vincent Tan are today laid bare – revealing a turnover of more than a hundred players in less than five years and an outlay of almost £70m.
Less than three weeks remain of the current transfer window with Bluebirds boss Russell Slade keen to add numbers to his squad as he vows to turn the class of 2014/15 into ‘his side’.
But with Javi Guerra set to complete his loan exit to Malaga after just 41 minutes of Championship football, Guido Burgstaller told he has no future in South Wales and Jo Inge Berget set to have his contract cancelled after just 11 minutes of league action, it is clear the Cardiff chief has been told he must make room in a bloated squad for arrivals to add to Scott Malone and Alex Revell.
We reported yesterday how it could see as many as ten Bluebirds quit the club over the winter window, not including loan exits, with question marks hanging over the futures of Fabio, Nicky Maynard and Kim Bo-Kyung.
Yet the turnaround in players under four managers has been a hallmark of the Tan era which has seen 54 players signed permanently since the Malaysian became the club’s majority shareholder in May 2010.
That figure does not include 17 players signed on loan in that time – just four-and-a-half seasons – which takes the tally of new faces through the Cardiff City Stadium doors to a staggering 71. Broken down, that’s roughly one new player every 24 days!
Cardiff City's transfer deals
£68.5m
Money spent on players
£32.8m
Money recouped from sales
£35.7m
Net spend
Figures based on reported transfer fees
There is an equally high proportion of exits too, with 45 players sold or released during that time – with that number likely to rise with several being lined up for departures by Slade.
But whereas there was cash paid for 35 of their permanent transfers, only 13 of the player sales over the period garnered a fee.
From the players who were both bought and sold during the Tan era, covering the managerial stints of Dave Jones, Malky Mackay, Ole Gunnar Solskajaer and the present boss, Slade, there have been losses made on at least seven players – most notably Andreas Cornelius – with Berget, Burgstaller and potentially Kim and Maynard likely to further swell that figure. In terms of making a profit, only the sale of Jordon Mutch for £6m after his £2m arrival represented a significant profit, one of just four transfers to swing into the black.
While it is difficult to find total accuracy given clubs often either leave transfer fees undisclosed or there is a disparity between the buying and selling clubs in terms of final figures, the reported details used will not be far away from the reality.
' Total spending under managers ' Malky Mackay
27 April 2013 of Cardiff City Chairman Vincent Tan (left) and manager Malky Mackay.
£46.6m
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
Cardiff City's owner Vincent Tan alongside Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (centre) during the Barclays Premier League match at the Emirates Stadium, London. January 1, 2014, 2013.
£21.3m
Russell Slade
Cardiff City manager Russell Slade
£0.275m
Figures based on reported transfer fees
And even without taking into account loan fees for high-profile short-term signings such as Wilfried Zaha and Ravel Morrison or signing-on fees for some of the Bosman frees – traditionally higher than standard ‘welcome bonuses’ – it has seen the club hand over an estimated £68.575m in the space of four-and-a-half years.
There has been an estimated £32.875m recouped from sales, with almost £25m of that coming last summer, meaning the net spend has been £35.7m since Tan first took over.
The transfer spending only really exploded into life following Tan’s increased involvement around the time of the controversial rebrand in the summer of 2012; his first two seasons seeing a net outlay of under £700,000.
' Vincent Tan '
The last two windows have also seen a greater ‘balancing of the books’ with Solskjaer’s reign actually seeing more money come in from transfers than going out, thanks in main to the virtual break-even sales of Steven Caulker and Gary Medel as well as the profits from Mutch’s departure to QPR.
However, just as the stark figures do not give a context over a transfer’s true value – the free signing of Heidar Helguson with his eight goals in the promotion season, a good example of a value for money – neither do they tell the full story of Solskjaer’s time in charge.
With Eikrem and Cala both having been paid up with 18 months left on their contracts, Cala joining after a reported £1m fee was paid to Getafe to waive a previous pre-contract he had signed with them, the outlay figure is in reality greater than just adding up reported fees.
Burgstaller could yet go the same way with £2m striker Berget also falling into the category. Midfielder Kagisho Dikgacoi signed on a free with then Palace boss Tony Pulis saying it was “a very well paid” contract and a “fantastic offer”. But circumstances have limited his playing time to just 74 minutes in the Championship.
' Success, failure... and a different approach '
It would be remiss not to mention the successes of this era, with several signings proving to be good value, bringing results on the pitch and proving to be bargains even if not also profit-making on re-sale.
However, the numbers do show the problems in the club’s attempts to switch from one style to another without a clear football direction, as differing types of players were brought on board with others having to be shipped out quickly.
Indeed, it is difficult to describe the likes of Berget, Burgstaller, Guerra and Cala as flops given the lack of time or opportunity for those on the outside to pass judgement.
It is difficult to know accurately where to attribute blame, if any, but few clubs are able to sustain success on or off the pitch with such large turnovers of players and such instability in the playing squad.
To his credit, Tan has pushed the green-light on unprecedented levels of spending, both before and after the Premier League payments were accounted for.
However, having criticised Mackay for his transfer activity and promising greater involvement to stop such problems under Solskjaer, the looming exits of several signings from the past two windows does not reflect particularly well.
A transfer committee was set up in the immediate wake of the first issues with Mackay and the initial appointment of Alisher Apsalyamov as transfer recruitment chief but whereas many clubs have attempted to sign a certain type of player to fit that particular club, it appears from the outside that players have been signed to suit a manager at Cardiff City – and the club has suffered when managers have moved on.
Slade’s first two signings suggests a different approach again, both in type of players and size of fee but it remains to be seen whether it proves successful in slowing the Cardiff City Stadium revolving door.
Re: The Full Story of how £70million has been spent under Ta
Thu Jan 15, 2015 8:16 am
Annis when broken down 35m net outlay over 4yrs is not bad, what is bad is amount players bought/sold lot of wastage but like said total after dealings is not bad shame it was so chaotically done. Anyway will try keep up with news as about to jet off to Mexico for 2 wks! 
Re: The Full Story of how £70million has been spent under Ta
Thu Jan 15, 2015 9:23 am
The squad has some value eg. Marshall, so the £35 million hasn't disappeared as such.
High wages will be the problem, which is probably why we are dealing at the moment - getting rid of the squad 'stars' on high wages. We have been paying over the odds for a long time, and it must be difficult to sign a decent player for reasonable wages when they know all your other players are paid over the top wages. Forget the fee for Cornelius - wages wise he was on £45k a week -almost £2.5million a year!
High wages will be the problem, which is probably why we are dealing at the moment - getting rid of the squad 'stars' on high wages. We have been paying over the odds for a long time, and it must be difficult to sign a decent player for reasonable wages when they know all your other players are paid over the top wages. Forget the fee for Cornelius - wages wise he was on £45k a week -almost £2.5million a year!
Re: The Full Story of how £70million has been spent under Ta
Thu Jan 15, 2015 10:54 am
Taffrocker wrote:The squad has some value eg. Marshall, so the £35 million hasn't disappeared as such.
High wages will be the problem, which is probably why we are dealing at the moment - getting rid of the squad 'stars' on high wages. We have been paying over the odds for a long time, and it must be difficult to sign a decent player for reasonable wages when they know all your other players are paid over the top wages. Forget the fee for Cornelius - wages wise he was on £45k a week -almost £2.5million a year!
And we got some GREAT value out of that money... 107 minutes of... pretty much nothing... so let's break it down.
Signing on fee - £1.25m
Transfer Fee - £7.668m
Agent Fee - £863k
6 Months wages - ~£1.2m
Total cost ~ £10.9 million
Total sale - £3 million
Nett Cost - £7.9 million pounds
So his costs (in domestic competition) cost us roughly
7,900,000 / 107
£738,317.76 PER MINUTE!!!
Re: The Full Story of how £70million has been spent under Ta
Thu Jan 15, 2015 1:05 pm
pembroke allan wrote:Annis when broken down 35m net outlay over 4yrs is not bad, what is bad is amount players bought/sold lot of wastage but like said total after dealings is not bad shame it was so chaotically done. Anyway will try keep up with news as about to jet off to Mexico for 2 wks!
It's safe to say it's been 'eventful' at the CCS under Tan, Allan!
Have a great time in Mexico, fella
Re: The Full Story of how £70million has been spent under Ta
Thu Jan 15, 2015 1:08 pm
GSO Cardiff City wrote:Taffrocker wrote:The squad has some value eg. Marshall, so the £35 million hasn't disappeared as such.
High wages will be the problem, which is probably why we are dealing at the moment - getting rid of the squad 'stars' on high wages. We have been paying over the odds for a long time, and it must be difficult to sign a decent player for reasonable wages when they know all your other players are paid over the top wages. Forget the fee for Cornelius - wages wise he was on £45k a week -almost £2.5million a year!
And we got some GREAT value out of that money... 107 minutes of... pretty much nothing... so let's break it down.
Signing on fee - £1.25m
Transfer Fee - £7.668m
Agent Fee - £863k
6 Months wages - ~£1.2m
Total cost ~ £10.9 million
Total sale - £3 million
Nett Cost - £7.9 million pounds
So his costs (in domestic competition) cost us roughly
7,900,000 / 107
£738,317.76 PER MINUTE!!!
you have to laugh because it's so true!
Re: The Full Story of how £70million has been spent under Ta
Thu Jan 15, 2015 7:32 pm
T1JMO wrote:GSO Cardiff City wrote:Taffrocker wrote:The squad has some value eg. Marshall, so the £35 million hasn't disappeared as such.
High wages will be the problem, which is probably why we are dealing at the moment - getting rid of the squad 'stars' on high wages. We have been paying over the odds for a long time, and it must be difficult to sign a decent player for reasonable wages when they know all your other players are paid over the top wages. Forget the fee for Cornelius - wages wise he was on £45k a week -almost £2.5million a year!
And we got some GREAT value out of that money... 107 minutes of... pretty much nothing... so let's break it down.
Signing on fee - £1.25m
Transfer Fee - £7.668m
Agent Fee - £863k
6 Months wages - ~£1.2m
Total cost ~ £10.9 million
Total sale - £3 million
Nett Cost - £7.9 million pounds
So his costs (in domestic competition) cost us roughly
7,900,000 / 107
£738,317.76 PER MINUTE!!!
It's not true though, its £73,831.78 per minute actually, but still a lot more than most of us earn in a year.
Re: The Full Story of how £70million has been spent under Ta
Fri Jan 16, 2015 2:54 am
Sven wrote:pembroke allan wrote:Annis when broken down 35m net outlay over 4yrs is not bad, what is bad is amount players bought/sold lot of wastage but like said total after dealings is not bad shame it was so chaotically done. Anyway will try keep up with news as about to jet off to Mexico for 2 wks!
It's safe to say it's been 'eventful' at the CCS under Tan, Allan!
Have a great time in Mexico, fella
Eventful? ??
At end of day lots more clubs have net spend which is higher than us, and some are in worse position than us!
already having good time on beach having mango tango cocktail
Re: The Full Story of how £70million has been spent under Ta
Fri Jan 16, 2015 4:31 am
pembroke allan wrote:Sven wrote:pembroke allan wrote:Annis when broken down 35m net outlay over 4yrs is not bad, what is bad is amount players bought/sold lot of wastage but like said total after dealings is not bad shame it was so chaotically done. Anyway will try keep up with news as about to jet off to Mexico for 2 wks!
It's safe to say it's been 'eventful' at the CCS under Tan, Allan!
Have a great time in Mexico, fella
Eventful? ??
At end of day lots more clubs have net spend which is higher than us, and some are in worse position than us!
already having good time on beach having mango tango cocktail
Re: The Full Story of how £70million has been spent under Ta
Fri Jan 16, 2015 1:49 pm
So maybe we dont owe Tan so much and he has not put the £170 million in he keeps saying he has?
Re: The Full Story of how £70million has been spent under Ta
Sat Jan 17, 2015 3:11 am
Forever Blue wrote:So maybe we dont owe Tan so much and he has not put the £170 million in he keeps saying he has?
Annis does anyone actually know the answer? Personally don't think we do! partly because some things he was using money for have not materialised and he was also bigging himself up to the press.