Footballers’ wages and transfer fees generate huge amounts of media attention as well as moans and groans on message boards, social media and in pubs across the country as fans debate and justify the transfer fees and wages relating to the likes of Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo and Virgil Van Dijk. Football players are employees, just like those in any other industry, or business. The players might not see themselves as such, but in reality, they are no different to mechanics, insurance sellers or healthcare workers. However, what is unusual about players is that they sign contracts of employment for a fixed time period, usually measured in years. This commits the player to play exclusively for a club for the duration of the contracted period. The club holds the player's registration certificate with the national football association and under UEFA and FIFA regulations the player cannot move to a new football club without the registration certificate being transferred.

If the player's registration is held by another club, then a potential employer may have to pay compensation for the player's registration certificate. This is called a transfer fee. The fee may be negotiated by the two clubs or set out in the employment contract. This could be as simple as a buying club asking the existing one for their player valuation of the player and agreeing to pay that sum. If the buying club does not want to pay the quoted price they might make a lower offer, and see if it is accepted or rejected. There then may be a series of offers until a final fee is agreed. When Philippe Coutinho moved from Liverpool to Barcelona in January 2018 the Catalan club initially offered £92 million for the player, this was rejected and followed by a series of higher bids until a final fee of £142 million (including some add-on fees conditional upon achievements) was accepted by Liverpool.

The transfer fee can be paid as a single amount or spread over a period of time and paid in instalments, some of which may be performance related.