THE JUNGLE CALLED THE TRANSFER MARKET

 

Football transfer market is something that has always fascinated the faithfuls of the game, from the times when spending a million quid on a player seemed too costly, to the modern game, where someone like a Harry Maguire will cost a team 80 million British pounds. Yes, the times have changed, and so has the tactics of the teams involved. No longer is a transfer just a simple negotiation between two clubs. There are agents, lawyers and a host of middle men involved who charge exorbitant fees for their services. This results in an over inflated market, which, by all means, has entered a state of emergency. A newly promoted club like Nottingham Forest signed 21 players this summer, yes 21!! That's a whole new squad out there. While European champions Real Madrid have signed only two players, Antonio Rudiger being a free signing along with Aurelien Tchouameni for 87 million euros. 

So how does a beginner view this transfer market from the outside? How does someone not get lost in this jungle? Here's a guide for the new fans of the beautiful game, from a fellow fan himself. Enjoy!!

HUGE NET SPEND DOESN'T ALWAYS MEAN GOOD BUSINESS

Let's get the elephant out of the window straight away, spending huge amount of money is not always worth it. Spending 80 million on Cristiano Ronaldo got Real Madrid 4 Champions Leagues in 9 years, along with 451 goals in 438 appearances for the Los Merengues. The same 80 million for Harry Maguire, however, has brought absolutely nothing back to the Old Trafford. Manchester United have spent in excess of one billion euros in the last decade, but have very little success to show for it. A team like Real Madrid, who are known to spend huge on players, have uncharacteristically decreased unnecessary huge spending on players. Sticking to the same core year after year and bringing in young blood has helped the club win 5 Champions Leagues in the last 10 years. A team like Manchester City who usually spend a lot, have transformed themselves into much more shrewd players in the transfer market. How do you sign Erling Haaland, one of the best youngsters in the world, along with an up and coming player like Julian Alvarez, for a sum that is less than what Manchester United payed for Antony? Not only that, they generated close to 90 million euros from the sale of Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus to Chelsea and Arsenal, respectively. One can't help but just admire at the way the club is being run, which is both futuristic in its approach, while also providing sustainability to the present squad.

QUALITY OR QUANTITY?

Another question that may come to the minds of the new fans is, how should a team approach a transfer market? Should they focus on quantity, bringing 7-8 average players to improve the squad, or should they, rather focus on bringing one or two top notch players who are definitely going to help the team improve, almost immediately? Well it depends. The transfer market is not a one way lane, it's the amalgamation of a lot of pathways, a lot of ideas, which may or may not intersect. For example, a team like Manchester City or Real Madrid don't need to spend a lot every summer. Most of the crucial positions in the team are taken. Its all about replacing the deadwood, bringing in young exciting players with the aim at long term success, and keeping the wage bill under check. On the other hand, a team like Manchester United do need a lot of new players to improve the squad. Their starting eleven is not good enough, let's not even talk about their bench strength. A team like Tottenham Hotspurs also bought a number of new players to improve the squad. Both the approaches might work or fail, with equal probabilities. After all, winning a transfer market is not equivalent to winning a trophy.

THE CLAUSES THAT WILL EVEN CONFUSE SANTA CLAUS

Players these days have a number of clauses inserted into their contracts. Initially these were aimed at rewarding the players for their outstanding achievements, but now they have just become ridiculous. Anthony Martial of Manchester United has a Ballon d'or clause in his contract. Yes, Anthony Martial! Similarly Cristiano Ronaldo had a certain clause in his contract when he was at Juventus, which said Juve had to pay Real Madrid certain amount of money if he scores certain amount of goals. Juventus didn't play him in their last league game to avoid the payment. These clauses, though seem sweet on the surface, are actually harmful for the players. In no way should the game time of a player depend on the money their present team owes to their previous team. This affects the player in a huge way. But again, in a world ruled by money, will someone even care if they are getting promised a million or so for, say 10 league goals? 

SCOUTING MATTERS

Gone are the days when buying a lot of players meant a lot of success. Effective scouting not only helps in discovering talents, it also helps in the cost cutting for the club. Real Madrid signed Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo from Brazil when they were relatively unknown. Fast forward a few years, both of them played crucial roles in winning the Champions League with Madrid. Short term fixes might bring in success, but they are not sustainable. There is probably no club in the world who approach a transfer market with the idea of spending in excess of 100 million every season. Having a good academy, scouting players when they are young and slowly integrating them into the team is the best way forward, and has been proved by many clubs.

ARE FOOTBALLERS OVERPAID?

A question that has plagued football for so long, are footballers actually overpaid? Sure, they have to do their "jobs" for 7-8 months a year, away from their family and loved ones, always travelling, training and what not. But still, does any footballer in today's date can boastfully say that he or she deserves to be paid 350k euros a week? Or about 35 million euros per year in wages, after tax!! Surely, they are some of the biggest entertainers in the world, they influence the society like superheroes, the inspire the next generation of people to choose a better life, a life which unites, not divided. But, is that enough to be paid more than the healthcare workers? The engineers, the ones who build the society? Some might say, you get paid based on how much you bring in. Well, that argument is fine as well, for football brings in billions of dollars in revenue every year, and thus giving a portion of this large pie to the actual performers might sound reasonable.

Why is point important? Well because not every club has the same means to pay its players. A team like Ajax could pay Antony, their best player, only about 20k pounds a week. That same players will earn at least 10 times the money at a club at Manchester United. How does this affect the game? Well, it doesn't as long as players don't do anything out of the box for bigger contracts. Antony did. He reportedly refused to train, didn't report to the club, basically forcing the club to sell him. Casemiro, a vital cog in the legendary KCM trio at the heart of the Real Madrid midfield left the team this summer in favor of a huge contract at Manchester United. While it's completely humane to want more, loyalty is getting kicked out of the window. This is a very dangerous trend, and I for one won't be surprised if this trend shapes the future transfer markets, drastically for one team, favorably for the other one.

Transfers are a messy jungle. The ones who guide us through it, the journalists like Fabrizio Romano and David Ornstein, deserve a round of applause. They make it seem so easy, like a game of FIFA. While behind the scenes, there's just too much drama going on. A club has to identify their weakness, search for the correct player they want to bring in, ask his parent club about his availability, discuss a transfer fee or a loan fee, which may have thousand different clauses in itself. While huge exorbitant transfer fees were common in pre-pandemic transfer markets, in the post-pandemic world loan deals have gathered steam. A simple loan simply doesn't exist anymore. An option to buy is almost inevitable while taking a player on loan. And the domino effect, as Fabrizio calls it, is so much clear every transfer market. Every transfer, every signing is linked to the other. No one is here to be the supplier, everyone wants to win, every team wants to dominate the other. It's a Royal Rumble of the clubs and their owners, the more you give the better you get. Or maybe not. As another transfer window shuts down, the sun sets on what has again been an incredible summer of transfers. And trust me, even better days are ahead, better deals are to be made. Let the transfers commence, here we go! 

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Poster- Sayak Maity