From Moises Caicedo to Rasmus Hojlund: Ten ridiculous deals that prove the transfer market has gone completely mad in 2023

Clubs have long spent big on world-class talents, but what we're seeing now is unproven players moving for crazy prices...

Back in 2016, Jurgen Klopp said he would never want to see his club spend £100 million ($127M) on a single player. «The day this is football,» the Liverpool manager said, «I'm not in a job anymore.» So, when it was confirmed that the Reds had bid a staggering £110m ($140m) for Moises Caicedo, some supporters from rival clubs cheekily asked if Klopp was about to resign.

Addressing that infamous vow,the German admitted that it wasn't the first time he had said something he later regretted — and probably wouldn't be the last. However, as well as pointing out that Liverpool were still trying to live within their means (unlike many other clubs), he also acknowledged that «the market is obviously crazy» and that he and his bosses were sometimes obliged to pay big fees in order to sign players that can help the club continue challenging for trophies.

Of course, one could argue that the transfer market has been out of control for some time now, because of 'The Neymar Effect', with Paris Saint-Germain's genuinely shocking decision to meet the €222m (£190m/$242m)) buy-out clause in the Brazilian's Barcelona contract — something the Blaugrana understandably considered unthinkable — creating a knock-on effect that saw several world-class talents switch clubs for colossal fees. It's worth noting that nearly all of those deals proved disastrous, primarily because they made no sense.

However, what we're seeing now is different, even more illogical. Indeed, as GOAL illustrates with the ridiculous deals listed below, in 2023, inexperienced, unproven players are moving for mad money, meaning Klopp is quite correct: the