Juventus paid €72 million for the 23-year-old Brazilian midfielder Arthur while Barcelona paid €60 million for Pjanic, a player that turned 30 in April.
Arthur was signed for €35 million plus add one from Gremio in 2018 and Pjanic was signed for €11 million from Roma is 2016.
There was no need for a deal like this, both the players were doing pretty well at their clubs. Barcelona Manger Quique Setien few days before the transfer said he is a 100% committed player with bright future. Arthur too did not want to leave Barcelona. On the hand Pjanic was one of the senior players that Sarri could count on, he mentioned the same in one of the press conference and also lauded Pjanic's passing ability.
Juventus midfielder Miralem Pjanic will join LaLiga giants Barcelona at the end of the season in a deal worth a reported €65 million. A few hours after the Pjanic deal was confirmed, Juventus announced that Barcelona star Arthur Melo will arrive at Turin at the end of the current campaign in a deal worth €72 million. Both teams benefitting from two separate transfers rather than Juventus simply paying Barcelona €7million upfront for the Arthur-Pjanic swap.
How has it benefitted both the clubs?
Although there is a net difference of a mere €7million in favour of Barcelona in the Arthur-Pjanic swap deal, Juventus and Barcelona will both report close to €52 million in profit due to the way player contracts and transfers are handled by football clubs on the accounting front. As reported by Swiss Ramble on Twitter, when a player is purchased by any club, the costs are spread out across the length of the player's contract. However, when a player is sold the profits are immediately logged in the account books as clubs treat players similar to financial assets.
Barcelona signed Arthur for a reported €30 million on a six-year contract. Which means Arthur's value reduced by €5m each year, his book value is a reported €20m currently after two years of signing him. Therefore, his sale to Juventus for a reported €72million accounts as a direct €52m profit for Barcelona.
On the other side of the deal, Juventus signed Pjanic for a reported €35m from AS Roma on a five-year deal in 2016. After two years in Turin, his book value stood at €21m. In 2018, Juventus gave him a two-year contract extension which took the annual payments down to €4.2m. When Barcelona agreed a deal to sign Pjanic, his book value was an estimated €13m, meaning his €65m sale will go down as a €52m profit for the Juventus.
PS: The transfer amounts may not be exactly accurate, but it is rounded up for a easier understanding.
Had it been a Arthur-Pjanic swap deal the clubs will not have been able to show the mentioned profit. Two separate deals allows to show the profit well within Financial Fair play guidelines and it may allow both the clubs to do more transfers with the profits shown in the books.
Recently we have seen many clubs been punished under Financial fair play guidelnes. So it is a very smart move from both the clubs, as both are very similar kind of players.
Football clubs are currently in the midst of a financial crisis due to the coronavirus pandemic. With the loss of commercial revenue and no matchday revenue due to games being held behind closed doors, the profits from the Arthur-Pjanic deal appear to be a win-win for both clubs.
More so, the Arthur-Pjanic deal remains well in line withing Financial Fair Play rules, in what will come as a respite, considering their recent big-money deals. So we could see more signings from both the clubs.
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