Transfer Window Closes - thoughts
This window was a harsh reminder that football is business first- we break down the biggest pieces of business this January
The close of the January transfer window has been met with cries that spending in England is out-of-control while other leagues cannot compete. While I concede this is not a healthy situation for football, I also am firm believer in the free market dictating transfers in sport, and the fact is, England’s top-flight league is well ahead of the others from a business standpoint because of two decades of business decisions.
Serie A in particular, the league that was the best in the world two decades ago has seen its clubs make bad decisions, in addition to the reality that Italian stadiums are horribly dated, attendances are plummeting and at least six historically big clubs have serious financial mismanagement issues in recent times. In addition, Italian TV deals have always favored a handful of clubs. The Bundesliga, the league whose business model, I personally favor because it is supporter-driven football cannot be a serious player in the transfer market with that model outside of a few top clubs, and that now seems to be drying up. La Liga’s downfall under Javier Tebas which has culminated in American-styled proto-socialist financial controls on clubs has been well articulated by my colleague, Javier Martinez.
So given English hegemony, unfortunately what I would like to be a discussion of four or five leagues competing for top talent is really a conversation about one. So let’s discuss that league. (For the record, I don’t like English hegemony but at the same time don’t believe in rewarding others for bad business decisions so would like the market to just sort this out over time - if it means the PRemier League is the Super League, so be it.)
Arsenal, sit top-of-the-table and the additions of Jorginho and Leandro Trossard seem to potentially seal the title. But what is Trossard’s attitude, that Roberto De Zerbi was willing to let him go quickly, while he and Brighton management dug in on holding onto Moisés Caicedo? Adam Lallana’s comments on Trossard were telling - Brighton likely are happy to see the back side of the player, which is incredible given his quality, but we don’t know about how he behaved in training or other team outings.
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