Frankfurt (AP): Bayern Munich coach Juergen Klinsmann believes the financial meltdown will soon hit football, with players' salaries and transfer fees set to plunge.
``The financial crisis will really hit football over the next few months,'' Klinsmann said in an interview with German news agency DPA published on Tuesday. ``There will be a redefinition of the market ... concerning transfers and salaries,'' the former Germany coach said.
``There will be a new situation. Players whose transfers in January are now unthinkable because they would cost euro20 million ($25.22 million) or euro30 million, could be available in June suddenly for much less,'' Klinsmann said.
While he did not expect a complete collapse in salaries, Klinsmann said more and more clubs would be forced to rethink their wages, adding that it will be a ``tense process.'' There were already signs that the crisis could be hitting England, ``where there are big question marks concerning owners and investors,'' he said.
There could always be exceptions, however, such as Manchester City, which has been bought by the oil-rich Abu Dhabi United Group, Klinsmann said. But for most clubs in Europe's big leagues, the global financial crisis will inevitably have an impact, he said.
``If thousands of jobs are at stake in Italy at Fiat, it will hit Juventus at some point,'' Klinsmann predicted. Last year, Fiat signed a three-year, euro33 million sponsorship deal with Juventus, one of the biggest such sponsorship deals in world football.