Was Raphael Varane Really Cheaper Than Ben White? 

"Ben White is an English lizard boat." This is the kind of quality, in depth, football analysis one can only get from Tifo. Incredible insight.

Things I learned in this video: * lizards are expensive AF * Brighton has a messy divorce * Ben White is an English lizard-boat

I see the analogy department at Tifo are earning their keep with that lizard metaphor. Lovely stuff.

Varane was a good signing but Palette Town's Bulbasaur would have been even better

Joe talking about Amortisation makes me think we need a Price of Football Podcast/Tifo Football crossover.

You've somehow managed to turn boats and lizards into a really really good explanation for transfers... I've never been so pleasantly surprised before!

What an amazing tactic from arsenal, announcing that they've got lots and lots of money to spend, clubs take note, price your lizard boats accordingly!

I am so here for TiFo's descent into anarchic yet understandable analysis.

the lizard/boat ideas have JJ's fingerprints all over them

I completely get it now! Ben White is an English Lizard Boat, hence the premium paid to Brighton. Thanks Mr. Devine for explaining it so eloquently!

Thank you for making this video and adding context to the situation. Is it also true that Varane only had one year left on his contract with Real Madrid, whereas White’s was much longer - putting Brighton in a stronger position?

Good stuff! I think the price of British players is being inflated even further due to the effect Brexit will have on squad registration. I think Grealish is another example of this. They could probably have found more cost-effective options, but in Grealish they have a relatively young British player who they can expect to be in their squad for several years to come.

You're a great guy Joe Devine, really glad you do this for a living. Following your passions, your hearts desire and it leads to beauty for the world. You are living a life well lived and we're enjoying the fruits of it.

United should've gone for Pallet Town's Bulbasaur. It was the best option available to them.

This script is so erratic, JJ must’ve written it after a a heavy one…

More of these please. Joe's energy is perfect for Tifo IRL

Nice analogy, though Varane's transfer fee wasn't 50 million pounds.. it was 34 million pounds plus upto 8 millions in add ons.. whereas Ben White cost 50 million upfront. That said, Ben White is a bright prospect.

I mean 34million for Varane isn't the same as 50million for Ben White but at least you got the wages part right. Also output matters more than the input and Varane likely to provide better output than White.

This is the level of quality writing I expect to find when I subscribe to the Athletic with a 50%-off deal for the next 6 months.

When I first heard Joe's voice I imagined a very composed and profesional man but whenever he gets on camera he's hilarious.

This may well be the best video I’ve seen from Tifo in a while! Joe is so good on camera and his comedic value is great

Tbh, Never expected Tifo to get *SO* many things wrong.. Varane's fee for example was €50m (including addons) and not £ while White's fee was £50m (guaranteed) Varane's wages are €250k pw (again emphasis on €) White's wages are £120k pw (again £) The best channel for football tifo, but really didn't expect this 👍

3:45 "This may come as a surprise, Karim Benzema ever so slightly more money than uh *checks hand* Aaron Connolly." Hilarious

Funniest video you’ve done, every joke hit right, would recommend

Joe is amazing... light spirited, funny and explains things easily.. More of joe pls

I think this is the video where the Partridge-isms have tilted from being ironic and self knowing to being on par with Richard Madley’s unknowing and never ending Partridge tribute act.

This screams John Oliver and Last Week Tonight! Love it!

That "Massive Lizzard" shown was a Komodo Dragon. Don't go and buy it, It WILL eat you!

One of those moments where you finally see the person that voice you've listened to for ages... "huh..." love your work

Joe straight on is Smeagal, Joe looking to the side is Golem. Tifo is strange and I love it.

even with the context it only seems to highlight how good was the United deal and how bad was Arsenals. Arsenal has still overpaid for a high potential but still ultimately unproven player.... like they did with Pepe

Small lizard can become BIG lizard, my god...

Amazing as always guys!

Why are so many people having a hard time understanding this? 🤷‍♂️ Varane had 1 year left on his contract and Real needed to sell. Ben White had 4 years left on his contract and Brighton DIDN'T need to sell. Its really VERY simple.

Probably the funniest video you've made so far. Thoroughly entertaining

Adam Stewart should use some of those analogies next time, on "why should I care" on his next topic. They definitely made me care about this topic 😂😂

This needs to be a series. Those examples were extraordinary 🤣 Brilliant.

love this set up, reminds me of tv burp! great video as ever guys

"Transfer fee is roughly the same" - no, no it's not. Varane cost £34m rising to £41m, whilst White cost £50m. That's quite a significant difference and it's incredibly important when quantifying transfer costs to be using accurate numbers. Assuming Varane earns about £5m more in wages a season than White, that's 2-3 years of the players' playing for their respective new clubs before the fees equalise. I.e. Varane for the first 2-3 years is still cheaper than White.

Varane cost united £41m including addons - there’s a healthy £2m gap in your amortisation calculation

Totally agreed. Ben white might be a good signing. But Man Utd has bought a massively experienced Defender by 40 mill. Varane has played in 14 finals and won all 14.. I think that's worth every penny..🔥🔥

More of this and him, please! Hell, I am willing to finally get that Athletic subscribtion, just to get more!

Not sure I agree with the analogy but some of the factors mentioned makes sense. White and Grealish are expensive because they're among the few young English players who have that top level quality and potential but in some cases that's debatable compared to many of the European young players. In Grealish it's more proven but in White it's not and so to value him the same as a World cup winner who was a key player for Real Madrid for 10 years shows that there is something wrong with how a value is set on a player. I personally think United got a good deal and Arsenal got a bad one. To be worth £50m there should be specific milestones a player would have to achieve rather than putting a value on a player purely because of circumstances around Brexit, player potential, the club's necessity to sell, etc.

Lol. The length Tifo went through to praise Arsenal deal is astonishing

Great Video! . I don't get why these 2 signings are being compared. United have clearly done the better business. The expenditure analysis is close to useless because United doesn't need to spend as little as arsenal because they have more money and obviously a centre back with the pedigree Varane has is going to cost you more than a Ben White. United could have been quoted somewhere upwards of 70 million and still would have has to pay the same wages but they aren't, and that's good business whether people like it or not. Compared to being strung along by Brighton to an extra 20 million.

The YT algorithm sent me here for content on lizard and boat purchasing tips. Not disappointed. 👌🏽

I absolutely loved this style of video! Super informative and really funny as well! More of this please!!!

"[Varane] will probably cost United around £10.4m per year... which is a lot." I thought this part could have used some additional clarity. With the talk of amortisation beforehand and the definition of the cost per season as (fee + wage) / contract length, I expected the £10.4m to be that 'total cost'. However, looking at the actual value, £10.4m per year, it looks to be just the yearly wage. The fee divided by the 5 year contract length alone would namely already be £10m per year. I feel the video would have benefited from a more explicit explanation that those numbers were just the wage and then a follow up where the formula introduced earlier was used. I feel just one extra sentence would already have helped: "Add to those their amortized fee - £50m over 5 years for both, or £10m per year - and you get £14.16m per year for White and £20.4m per year for Varane." As for the last part of the quote, I feel £10.4m is necessarily _a lot_. It might be to us mortals, but then so is £4.16m per year. As far as football players, I was actually surprised with the wage. I thought it would be closer to the Özil, De Gea range of £350k to £400k per week (£18.2m, £20.8m). I suppose those numbers are only available in contract extensions or free transfers.

this was golden we need to see more of this guy on tifo irl

This is the best video on transfers I've ever seen.

I’ve never seen these videos before. The guys hilarious. Consider me subscribed.

I’m interested to see what pallet towns bulbasaur does this season

That form of justification is why Arsenal are where they are. Quality costs money. Going the cheap route will show itself end of the season.

This was brilliant. Really enjoying you guys bringing your personality into things more.

Joe this was so Chris Morris in The Day Today, loved it!

Also the contract lengths. I believe Varane had a year left on his contract weakening Madrid's hand.

Actually Varane is not even 50m.Its 34m + add-ons leading to 42m. So that's some business. And this comparison is pretty unnecessary imo.

To "rebut" your points if you will 1. Varane cost 41 million (without adding add ons to be added on if Man United win alot), whereas white cost 50 million (flat). Taking "amortisation" into acount 41 + (10 per season * 4 seasons)= 81 and 50 + (5 per season * 4) = 70. dividing both by 4 to acount for seasonal costs = 20.25 and 17.5 respectively. United (without add ons) are paying about 3 mill more per season, but with add ons (8 mill/4 seasons = 2 per season) 5 mill person season. quite a way off the 25% cheaper you had come up with. 2. MUFC v Arsenal Context - both teams are looking for a center back, one in the champions league and one not. sure. thats the only difference though. both teams where rummoured to have massive budgets this season. both looking at the same position. both in englands top flight. both considered "big 6" clubs. both even wear red. the only difference is also part of the reason why people are takeing the piss out of the siginging - united are in the cl, arsenal only play domestically this season. 3. Ben white v Varane context - varane is a big lizard, white - in comparison - is a tiny baby lizard. not a lizard with huge potential, a tiny baby lizard with decent potential. white has solid potential, but will he be varane level? ever? No. For me and most others this justifies the 3-5 mill extra per season for a much better defender. English tax does play a part due to the homegrown roster rules, but arsenal has enough english talent, and so does bournemouth, so english tax should not factor in as much as it has here.

On the contrary the small lizard is vulnerable to attack and might perish, the larger can fight back and you still have your asset......ding dong

Amazing. This is taking RU-vid context to new levels - genuine brilliance and mastery of the platform. If RU-vid had a super like feature that you could deploy once per annum to commend content producers reaching a pinnacle of excellence I’d do it now. Instead I liked pretty much all the comments on this video in the hope that it’d trigger the algorithm to share this more broadly. Tifo is truly best in class.

Woah, Tifo got the lizard in on this one? That Athletic partnership is doing wonders.

This superb analogy is why the boys at Tifo are paid the big bucks. Great content!

So hyped for our Lizard Boat!

as an accountant, I was not expecting to hear a football conversation about amortisation

Dude your voice and delivery is so good, they should hire you to replace david attenborough in future

Love this video..... First time seeing the voice behind tifo football.... Amazing

I love this type of video, and also the "Should I Care..." stuff. Keep it up guys!

Who ever did the graphic of Pau Torres should have an exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery

Today I have learned that Ben White is a young lizard boat and Raphael Varane is a large, old, award winning lizard. Today was a good day.

I love me some lizard analogies. I've really been missing them lately.

This is how all football information should be presented forever

Loving this style of video 😄 a whole season of this will be great content.

What TIFO missed in the lizard analogy however is that people are interested in a big lizard, they would pay to visit and look at the big lizard, and it being famous people are even willing to buy merch about it. All this also brings its owner money, essentially paying for its own upkeep. No one wants to see the small lizard or cares about it to buy mercy about it, so it doesn't pay for itself. Thus getting the big lizard is better as it also wins the owner trophies, unlike the small lizard. Context matters.

Football chat and reptile keeping, can't go wrong round here

for armortisation you have also incalculate the income by merchandise. This is much higher at Varane than at an non-nationalsquad-player (at the moment). On the other side the income by a selling (Newcastle, hrhr) has to be considered - this is hardly given at Varane.

you could also consider resale value, increased chance for success to reach qualifications and a lot more. Haaland for Dortmund is arguably worth €180m this summer because qualifying to the Champions League brings €100m and Dortmunds chances to qualify to the Champions League, to them, is much greater with Haaland at the club. Dortmund also have a €75m buy out clause in effect after this season is over so they know exactly what they'll get for him in a year or so. Simply add the guaranteed fee they'll get from Haaland sale next season and the money from qualifying to the Champion's League and what it would cost to replace Haaland. Arguably over €200m!

If this dude isn’t paid more than Varane it’s an injustice! Hilarious AND Informative

I don't know how much about White's transfer fee. But Varane, cost 34m pound fix, plus add-ons that could take the price to 42m pound. So, I am not sure where 50m pound is coming from. TBH, if the comparison is based on transfer fee, Konate would be a better comparison.

Loving the analogies bringing me back to English lessons

Awesome analysis and use of analogies. The quality of this Tifo segment is absolutely brilliant. Well done lads

Update 11/2/2021 Varane went to a team in a disarray and has experienced injuries in key games. United need a better coach, tactics and a better central midfield.

Christ i don't think I've laughed this much at a football video. Except that time i watched the danny welbeck meme video. Everything from your articulation to facial gestures, hilarious

also, in 5 years Varane may be close to retirement, whereas White will presumably be near his peak, meaning he could provide more value, either by retaining or by selling. (although knowing arsenal he'll probably be allowed to just run down his contract) I'm surprised their ages/potential future value wasn't considered here

You forgot to mention. If you buy a small lizard, in 5 years time it will be a big lizard that you could sell to the man on the boat. But if you bought a big lizard in 5 years time it would be dead. The man on the boat doesn't want a dead lizard.

There's no guarantee the English lizard boat will be as good as the beautiful multi winning lizard.

You earned my sub, great analogy and clear to understand

Love this guy. Great pair with JJ too. Thanks guys.

Rather than that I will be think how Arsenal "maybe" get the best of White in years to come and United is getting the best of Varane right now and many years to come 🤔 In Ben White case I think of Rob Holding case from Bolton to Arsenal and after many years of expectation 🤔

The quick camera cuts combined with choice of words is comedic gold 😂

I love this! Well done Joe & team Tifo!

I don't remember this episode of Fleabag. Well done Joe

Kroenke spending 250mil P was probably the funniest thing he said in the vid

The lizard analogy for player wages was perfect

I think Variante only cost 34m pound and with add one can go up to 42 m pound, while White cost 50 m pound now with 55 m with add ons. So with Varane Experience they got fair deal , and Ben white might be worth in coming 2 -3 years , But again he might not stay longer if Arsenal doesn’t improve.

Major Mark Corrigan energy from peep show at the beginning 🤣

Only thing that's wrong is that Varane was signed for 34M + 10M add ons while Ben White was done for 50M straight off

The word cloud for this episode is going to be a roller coaster.

This is superb! Lots of Tifo juices flowing here. Lizards. Pokémon. Boats. More of this please

Unironically one of your best videos

Love the lizard analogy but 34 million and 50 million on transfer fees are not really "about the same" so when the deficit is added to amortisation it is probably not quite how it is represented here.