In our book "Soccernomics," my co-author, Stefan Szymanski, and I analyzed wisdom and madness on the transfer market. Here's how some of our rules apply to this summer's transfer window:
1. The high fees are perfectly rational. When players are sold for more than £50 million, the deals are often dismissed as crazy or obscene. Many people say the soccer economy has become a bubble, like the housing bubble that burst in the U.S. in 2007. But that's wrong. To the contrary, big clubs are finally spending within their means. Yes, fees have risen (gross spending by English Premier League clubs this summer was £870m, an all-time record, say business analysts Deloitte).