Di Canio slams the boom and bust men

Paolo di Canio has never been one for sitting back on his football wages and watching the world go by. If the Italian sees something – or someone – he does not like, he gets to grips with the issue. So quiz the West Ham United creator about the economic crisis threatening to engulf Italian football, and you soon know where he stands.

In the camp of the players is the easiest way to describe his position, although with Di Canio, nothing is ever simple. So far as the maverick attacker is concerned, the current problems in Italy, which have forced authorities to close borders to non-EC players, have been a long time coming, and both players and chairmen should shoulder some of the blame. "For years, people said that the situation was absurd and unsustainable," he says, "and yet what did those same people do? They just kept spending. Even with the advent of big TV money and large sponsorship deals, it didn't take a genius to work out that, sooner or later, we were going to run into trouble. Basically, I think football came too far too fast."

Di Canio can trace the roots of the malaise back to the Bosman ruling of seven years ago, when an average Belgian footballer called Jean-Marc persuaded a European court that he should have been a free agent once his contract with Liege had expired. "In principle," the Italian says, "I think it is a very fair ruling, because it gives players more power, which makes sense as, let's face it, fans pay to see the players and not the club chairmen. The flip side, though, is that clubs have ended up over-spending."

Di Canio may be aware of the dilemma facing most of Europe's top sides, but that is not to say that he is sympathetic to their cause. "If we are in the current situation," he says, "it is above all the fault of club directors. Had they been a little more intelligent, they could have used the Bosman ruling and the hundreds of millions of pounds pouring into the game, in such a way that everybody could benefit. Instead, they continued begging TV companies and sponsors for more money, even though it clearly did not make business sense. Worse of all, they handed the bulk of the money to the players without thinking things through.

"You can argue, for example, that Christian Vieri is worth £30m, but that does not necessarily mean that your mediocre right-back or your hacker-bench-warming midfielder are suddenly worth more, too. It would have been OK if the big stars were earning the big money, but there was a knock-on effect where average players started making obscene amounts of money.

"One of the biggest errors in judgement was when people tried to rationalise Bosman signings. Chairmen said: 'This player is worth £15m and if I sign him I will have to pay him £1m per year over five years, so in total this purchase is going to cost me £20m. But if I can now get the player on a Bosman, I will just give him a five-year deal worth £3m per season and I'll save myself £5m'.

"How idiotic. All that happened was that this thinking pushed the wage demands of all the players up. The best example of this was Alvaro Recoba at Internazionale. Three years ago, he was about to go out of contract so convinced Massimo Moratti [the chairman] to give him what he would have had to pay for a free transfer. Recoba was handed £9m per season for five years. Do the maths: that's £45m. Say he's worth £3m per season in real terms, that means he was paid a virtual transfer fee of £30m. By doing this, though, Ronaldo and Vieri were suddenly unhappy and asked to be paid as much. Now, they are all having to take voluntary pay cuts. It's crazy."

While the former Juventus, Napoli and Milan star is most scathing about his home nation, he does point out that others are also to blame. "Italian clubs are the biggest culprits," he says, "not least because they are very good at highlighting the issues, but less good at dealing with them. The trouble with them is that the fans winge, the politicians winge, so in the end the creditors decide that it is better not to let the club go bankrupt. They know they will never recover their capital but they choose to turn a blind eye. You see it here in England, too. As a result, there are clubs that have recently been relegated from the Premiership and now have to sell everybody to survive." It is fair to assume that he is referring to Leicester City and Derby County, two clubs who are in serious debt following their exit from the top flight in May.

The 33-year-old also feels that the reason why Serie A have been most affected by the current crisis is because they are the most competitive league in Europe. "There are five or six big clubs who are on equal footing there," he explains, "whereas in England, you have Manchester United and then a gap; then Arsenal and another gap; and then everybody else. This sense of competition in Italy has led to a spasmodic chase for big names." Not this summer. Indeed, most big clubs are hunting around for "bargains". It tells you everything that the Republic of Ireland's Gary Breen has been a free transfer target for Internazionale.

Big signings have been few and far between on these shores as well, except for the small matter of the Rio Ferdinand transfer from Leeds to Manchester United for £30m. "Clearly Man U felt that the back four needed strengthening," says Di Canio, who almost joined the Red Devils last season before deciding to end his career in East London, "and, once Sir Alex Ferguson decided not to go for a foreigner, he could not have chosen a better player. Rio is definitely one of the best and, because he is English, he has cost a lot of money. The transfer stands out in the current climate, but Manchester United have always been sensible with their wage structure, so if they want to take a relative gamble on a huge signing, they have earned the right to do so."

Despite his very real concerns, Di Canio can see light at the end of the tunnel. "I think football will survive, because I believe in the free market and things correcting themselves," he says. "In that respect, Barcelona's decision to release Rivaldo is very significant. They are leading the way by refusing to give more money to a guy who only has one more year left on his contract and is 30. It's a good thing. He's probably going to be the first big-name victim of the belt tightening. He'll no doubt ask his next club for a lot, but I honestly hope he won't get it. Things have to change if we want to save football."