Record-breaking deals from Liverpool and Chelsea for Alisson and Kepa Arrizabalaga have seen goalkeeper transfer fees pushed “ridiculously high”, says Leicester’s Kasper Schmeichel.
Manchester City’s move for Ederson in 2017 saw asking prices for proven No. 1s go the same way as outfield players, with Neymar’s €222 million (£200m/$257m) switch to Paris Saint-Germain inflating the market.
New heights have been scaled in the current transfer window, with Liverpool raising the bar when landing Alisson in a £67m ($86m) deal with Roma.
The Brazilian was the world’s costliest keeper for just a matter of weeks, though, with Chelsea having invested £72m ($93m) in 23-year-old Spaniard Kepa.
"I think generally transfers are ridiculously high at the moment," Schmeichel told ESPN Brasil.
"It was only a matter of time before goalkeepers would get in on the act, because a good goalkeeper can be the difference between winning the league and not winning the league.
"That's the market at the moment. I think the Neymar transfer was pivotal to everything. Prices became very inflated and from there it was always going to reach every position.
"You saw it with Virgil van Dijk [who joined Liverpool for £75m in January] and now with Alisson - the market value has really gone up high."
While questioning the money being invested in goalkeepers, Schmeichel believes value is being found.
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He was particularly impressed by Ederson in 2017-18, with the 24-year-old Brazil international considered to have topped the likes of David de Gea and Hugo Lloris to become the Premier League’s best.
"For someone, particularly at that age, to be playing fearlessly as he is, he plays with high risk and his reading of the game is exceptional," Schmeichel said.
"It's a trademark of [Pep] Guardiola. You saw exactly how he played with [Bayern Munich’s Manuel] Neuer as well.
"If you can play like that, it means you can press so much higher up the pitch, meaning when the other team does eventually have to kick it long then if it goes over the centre-halves' heads then you've got a guy right behind them.
"He's basically an 11th outfield player. To be able to play like that is something that takes enormous bravery.
"To know that the line between getting it right and wrong is so thin. Any potential misstep, a fraction of a millisecond too late or too early can be the difference between costing your team. That's real bravery. Last season he was definitely the best goalkeeper in the league, for me."
