Sport
Football fans up and down the country are getting nervous. So often, by this point in the summer, with just weeks to go until the start of the season, clubs are well on their way to completing their squads for year ahead. But with so few major signings confirmed relative to previous seasons, there are many questions to be asked.
Of course, it is likely that there will be a flurry of action in the weeks before the transfer window shuts at the end of August. There are also mitigating circumstances; the European Championships and Copa America, major international tournaments across two continents involving many of the world’s best players, naturally slowed things down. June is typically the time for enquiring, testing the water and seeing what’s what, but that became more difficult. The Olympic Games, and pre-season tours, complicate matters further.
But after January’s virtual boycott of the market, with Profit and Sustainability Rules an obvious threat, it is hard to avoid the possibility that this is just the new look transfer window. Having seen Everton and Nottingham Forest succumb to points deductions for breaches last season, clubs who sensed they could be threatened desperately focussed on doing deals in order to fall in line.
Few clubs wanted to have deals on the record before the PSR deadline, which in effect became a ‘mini transfer deadline day’ on June 30. That will have an impact on how early clubs act in future windows; it used to be sensible, a reflection of how well a club was run, but because clubs can manipulate their financial outlook by delaying signings, that will more likely impact how the window works generally in the long-term.
Typically, player values only escalate as the window progressses; more clubs going late into the market could have a major impact on the way football finance works. There have been many unwanted byproducts of PSR becoming more serious and that one could play out in front of our eyes.
Liverpool boss Arne Slot has said he expects signings, but wouldn’t commit to any concrete updates while on the club’s pre-season tour in the USA.
“We already have a very good team I’m already really happy with,” said Slot.
“But it would be a surprise for all of us I think, if we don’t bring any player in. So that will probably happen in the end.
“For now, we are just waiting for the players to come back and waiting for the right ones to sign.”
There is also no impending cash injection on the scale of last year from the Saudi Pro League. Big makes moved for big money to turbocharge the competitiveness of a division with huge pockets but previously very little marketability. This time, although some moves such as Ederson leaving Manchester City for Al Hilal or Al Nassr, but not the sort of moves that will bankroll any high spending.
Football finances have been ballooning out of control for too long. Just look at what has happened to French club Bordeaux. The 2009 Ligue 1 champions have lost their professional license after relegation to the third tier. That is just one story of clubs going under in Europe and lower down the English pyramid; there are players who are too expensive for the market these days too. Real Madrid have signed Kylian Mbappe, but had to wait until his contract expired to stand a chance of completing the deal.
Perhaps we are seeing the start of the end of crazy spending in football. There is a sense that the threat now attached to financial rules acts as a legitimate deterrent. Players may have to respect contracts more than they have before as their values skyrocket, and clubs fear for their future with a wrong step. It’ll be less dramatic for sure, but maybe it’s what the game ultimately needs.
