Rome (AFP)

A transfer window of capital gains and account books. With the simultaneous transfers of Miralem Pjanic and Arthur, Juventus and Barcelona have highlighted a very common practice in Italy, that of false exchanges, very useful in times of economic uncertainty.

. The mechanism

Why speak of "false exchange"? Because if Arthur and Pjanic will cross paths between Barcelona and Turin, these are two separate transfers. And even huge transfers, the Bosnian having signed for around 60 million euros and the Brazilian having signed up in Piedmont for 72M.

The amounts are very large, but little money actually comes in or out of the funds. The effect on the accounts is however spectacular, thanks to the concept of surplus value.

Because during a transfer, the player's purchase cost is spread over the duration of his contract in the form of depreciation. Arthur, signing for five years, returns from an accounting point of view to less than 15M over the season.

However, the gain on sale (the sale price minus the residual value of the player's contract) is immediately posted to the accounts. And with Pjanic, Juventus made a capital gain of 42M, the second largest in its history after that recorded at the start of Paul Pogba.

"We took on a player who we have been following for years and who is younger than Miralem. And then we managed a superb financial operation," said Fabio Paratici, sports director of the Turin club.

. Turinese specialty

According to the specialized site Calcio e Finanza, Juventus has registered in its accounts half a billion euros in capital gains over the last five seasons, including more than 150M for 2019-2020. Very useful operations to stay in the nails of financial fair play while the recruitment of Cristiano Ronaldo weighs heavily in the column "expenses".

It is not always about exchanges, but the Turin club has made a specialty of these two-way movements. He had organized two last summer: to the right of his defense with the departure from Cancelo to Manchester City and the arrival of Danilo, then to the left, with the transfer to AS Rome from Spinazzola and the arrival of Pellegrini , since loaned to Cagliari.

In a more discreet manner, the Turin club also records pretty gains with similar operations on the youth market, as recently with Manchester City, which transferred to Turin Felix Correia and welcomed Pablo Moreno. The key is a positive accounting operation of around 10M for each of the clubs, for players who are still far from the first team.

. Where is the problem ?

Arthur, replacement at Barça, is it really worth 72M two years after being paid 31M? How can Pjanic be valued 60M when he is 30 years old and going through an average season?

No instrument can establish an objective value for a player and nothing prevents a club from paying "too much". But for some observers, the system is prone to abuse.

"Doesn't this creativity in football finance reach a breaking point?" Wondered last week the Corriere dello Sport, evoking a "bubble which sooner or later will explode".

"We can develop the best trading operations without cash in the coffers. But at the end of the story, wages are paid in money, not in accounting adjustments," added the sports daily.

"The mechanism can lead to abuses when the transfer of a player is done without circulation of real money or via exchanges based on unrealistic or fictitious valuations, inflated for the sole purpose of registering in the accounts a significant income, with the complacency of the acquiring club, to which, perhaps, we will return the favor sooner or later ", explains for his part the journalist Marco Bellinazzo, specialist in football economics, in the daily Il Sole 24 Ore.

. What solutions?

"Where a system emerges aiming to embellish or correct the balance sheets with inflated or fictitious sales, the authorities should find the courage to establish new evaluation rules as precise as possible to combat this administrative doping", still believes Marco Bellinazzo .

In 2018, the Chievo Verona was thus punished with a fine and a withdrawal of points after a multitude of operations deemed fictitious with Cesena, which had allowed him to balance his accounts and be able to register for the championship.

And in February, the Gazzetta dello Sport assured that UEFA had an eye on the matter.

© 2020 AFP