The Scenario: The football team in question is Manchester City, of The Premier League in the UK.They are owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan and literally have unlimited wealth (£Trillions) at their disposal.
Over the course of of the last 12 months they have been buying many of the top talent (footballers) from clubs around the world paying huge sums of money in transfer fees and player wages to acquire them.
They have assembled a first team squad of over 50 top quality players that would get into most of their competitors teams.
The Rules: The Premier League, this year brought in squad size caps, limiting a squad of players at any Premier League club to only 25 players for the season (with changes only allowed to be made in January).
The Problem for the Employer: Talent management - keeping the talented players happy that don't get selected for the final 25 player squad. After all, all they want to do is play football, right?
The Solution (as Manchester City see it): They loan out all these talented individuals (that haven't made the 25 player cut) to other companies (Football Clubs) to ensure they stay plying their trade (football) and keeping fit - all the time paying their exorbitant wages as well at the same time!!
BUT, they control where the players go - and they certainly WON'T let them go to any of their competition in the Premier League (which is understandable).
THE BIG QUESTION
Is is right, morally or ethically, to 'buy up' all the talent available in a marketplace just to restrict your competitors getting access to it, just because you have the wealth to do it? OR, is it a good business decision that should be applauded accordingly?
What do you think? Are Manchester City demonstrating the ultimate in a talent acquisition strategy, designed to reach their goal of reaching the top ?
