Painless, cheap and quick transfers in football are few and far between these days, particularly with big name players.
A prime example of the changing transfer market was Gareth Bale’s transfer to Real Madrid for a record €91 million fee, an ordeal which dragged on from the opening of the window to its closure.
English giants Manchester United under then manager David Moyes embarked on one of the most embarrassing transfer sagas in the club’s history, pursuing the likes of Thiago, Cesc Fabregas, Leighton Baines, Ander Herrera, with talks of a return of prodigal son Cristiano Ronaldo.
After all that, they had to settle for a humble Marouane Fellaini for an inflated fee of €32.8. His signature remains a great symbol of the demise of both United and Moyes last season.
So far this transfer window we have seen players arriving at new clubs, and big names too.
Chelsea have done good business, while Manchester United, in a bid to rid Old Trafford of the ghost of Moyes, have been busy as well, with plenty of the game’s stars jumping ship. Even the infamous Luis Suarez has sunk his teeth into a tasty new challenge at Barcelona.
So what’s changed from last year’s disaster to this year’s promising start?
Firstly, there’s the World Cup. While the world is engrossed in the greatest sporting event on the planet, managers and CEOs have to deal with the limited time created by the World Cup, and the holidays players demand following the tournament. With less time available to complete the necessary deals, clubs have less power to negotiate payments, debate administrative issues, or finically embark in search for ‘the right player’.
The World Cup is also a showcase for everything good and bad in the market. Teams have information that would otherwise be unavailable to them, and act fast to ensure they get the players they want before their market price rises dramatically. On the flip side, clubs who see their players underperform will try to offload them while they can. This was the case with Luis Suarez, with Liverpool moving him on after his biting antics proved a step too far.
Secondly, after the travesty of last year, there was a realisation that in order to get things done, you have to pay at market price, even if that market price is exorbitant.
Big teams need big players, and in a price inelastic market, you need to pay whatever suppliers are willing to supply at. This gradual realisation was typified by none Arsene Wenger of all people last year.
Wenger, usually a very prudent participant in the transfer market (and by that I mean he is reminiscient of George Costanza from Seinfeld), never seemed to want to splash the cash, much to the frustration of Arsenal fans. As a consequence, Arsenal haven’t been a challenger for the title in several seasons, with only one trophy in the last nine years.
Wenger’s approach to last year’s transfer window was no different. It wasn’t until Arsenal were thumped 3-1 by mid-table team Aston Villa that Wenger realised he had to change his ways.
So he purchased star midfielder Mesut Oezil for fifty million Euros. The result of this enormous signing was a revived Arsenal, who topped the league for the most games out of any club, and it wasn’t until Oezil got injured that Arsenal looked unlikely to win the Premier League.
He showed the rest of Europe that in order to compete for trophies, you need the best, and to get the best you need to spend.
With squads still depleted, you can be sure there are still plenty of transfers to come. The competition in Europe seems better than before, and who knows, maybe it’s a sign of better things to come.
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