The 2016 Summer Transfer Market is about to close: Times have changed, and people are going to go crazy.

According to statistics compiled as of last night, the five major European leagues have spent €2.94 billion on transfers – a colossal figure, partly fueled by unbelievable price gouging. But in the frenzy of the 2016 summer transfer market, teams are being forced into a situation where they have to be… crazy to avoid being left behind.

Summer "markets" and "crazy people"

Juventus rolled out the red carpet worth nearly 90.5 million euros to bring in Gonzalo Higuain. Man City bought "Robben version 2" in Leroy Sane for 43.5 million euros. Everton earned 53.5 million euros from a center-back who made more mistakes than he had moments of brilliance (John Stones). Granit Xhaka, the player who missed the penalty that caused Switzerland's heartbreaking exit from EURO 2016, was brought to Arsenal for 41 million euros. Shkodran Mustafi, a star whose price was incomprehensible until Arsenal agreed to pay Valencia 41 million euros.

The above are just a few examples of the many players whose prices have been inflated far beyond their actual potential. Take Leroy Sane, for instance. With only 8 goals and 6 assists, averaging a goal every 289 minutes in the Bundesliga last season, Sane was even less effective than mid-table players valued under €25 million in the Premier League.

Then, thanks to a single curling shot into the Real Madrid net, exactly like Robben's style, he was labeled Robben's successor and sold to Man City for €43.5 million. After adding various performance-related fees, Sane's value could reach €54.6 million, almost on par with the world-shaking transfers of a few years ago.

Numerous conspiracy theories have been put forward surrounding the issue of player valuations. Will clubs be burdened with additional fees for agents, image rights, or even third-party ownership, causing player values ​​to skyrocket to the exorbitant levels listed above? Nobody knows for sure. All we know is that if player values ​​continue to escalate like this, the future of the game will be dominated by wealthy clubs with immense financial power.

Go with the flow.

However, the frenzy of the 2016 summer transfer window, from the perspective of experts, was considered... normal. Take the Paul Pogba case as an example. The Guardian analyzed: With a transfer fee of 104.5 million euros, Pogba only accounted for 19.6% of Manchester United's revenue last season. This figure is actually not large.

In 1995, Arsenal spent 31.4% of their total season revenue on Dennis Bergkamp. When Newcastle bought Alan Shearer, the transfer fee for Shearer accounted for a staggering 60.7% of the Magpies' revenue. Simply put, Manchester United are wealthy, so their large spending is understandable.

And of course, it's not just Manchester United that's rich. Most of the Premier League's big clubs have become wealthier after the new €6 billion television rights package was implemented. It's only natural that when the tide rises, so do the boats. Furthermore, the 2016/17 season marked the beginning of several new eras. Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, Jose Mourinho at Manchester United, Antonio Conte at Chelsea… Usually, new eras begin with huge transfer spending. When Mourinho first arrived at Chelsea, and Van Gaal first took over at Manchester United, the amount of money poured into transfer windows always increased dramatically. Yet, this season, with three big clubs starting new eras, it's surprising that transfer fees haven't increased.

According to Bongdaplus