Response to the following problem:
Rio's on the team sheet and on the balance sheet Manchester United Football Club (MUFC) has acquired several key players as a result of paying transfer fees to other clubs. In common with most UK football clubs, MUFC reports the cost of acquiring those rights to the players' services on its balance sheet. The club's balance sheet for 2005 shows the cost of registering its squad of players as £137.5m. The item of players' registrations is shown as an intangible asset in the balance sheet as it is the rights to services not the players that are the assets. This figure of £137.5m includes the cost of bought-in players such as Rio Ferdinand (for £31.1m from Leeds United) but not ‘home-grown' players such as Wes Brown, Darren Fletcher and Paul Scholes.
These players are not included because MUFC did not pay a transfer fee for them and so no clear-cut value can be placed on their services.