As usual there has been a knee-jerk reaction by the FA. This time it is to complaints from some Premier League clubs that the transfer window stayed open for too long.
The fact that the window was still open after the season started meant that squads couldn’t be finalised and players were still on the move, sometimes after having played a game for their previous club as in the case of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who played against Liverpool in one game and then for them in the next.
What has been missed by the majority of clubs who voted for the change is that the window will now close before clubs have had a chance to look at their signings in action for their new team. This will affect some of the youth players who will now be prevented from going on loan “just in case” the new man doesn’t fit in immediately, such as Victor Lindelof at Manchester United.
If the new signing hits the ground running it will then be too late to send the youngster out on loan and his development will be stalled, maybe for four months, maybe for longer.
This, of course, also has an effect on the teams in divisions below the Premier League because it means that they won’t be able to get the young players on loan as easily as they once could.
The other problem with the new transfer window closing date is that it isn’t happening around Europe. Only the Bundesliga is due to meet to discuss doing similar.
This means that, with the arrival of the last Thursday before the new season starts, English Premier League clubs will no longer be allowed to sign players. It doesn’t mean that all the other clubs around Europe have to stop as well! The new date ruling should also have included Premier League clubs not being allowed to sell players as well.
As a result of this the situation at Liverpool, for example, would be worse than it has been this time out. It means that Barcelona could continue to chase Philippe Coutinho, potentially upsetting him and his club and, possibly, even sign him at some stage. All of this would take place while Liverpool would be powerless to act. Other than keeping Coutinho against his will, as they are currently doing, they would have no answer to the problem.
If Barcelona did manage to prise him away after the deadline in England, then it would be impossible for Liverpool to sign a replacement. If Coutinho remained at Liverpool he would have another two weeks of Barcelona “getting in his head” until their own transfer window closed.
This change is not only detrimental to the top clubs either. As we mentioned earlier the lower divisional clubs will have their loan applications affected but so will some of the lower placed teams in the Premier League
This is why, although fourteen clubs voted for the change, there was quite a diversity in the ones which didn’t.
Manchester United and Manchester City both voted against it but, some may think surprisingly, so did Watford, Crystal Palace and Swansea City, whilst Burnley abstained.
The fact is that ALL Premier League clubs will now be vulnerable to losing their players to the big European clubs, not just the top few.
The start dates of the leagues, at least in Europe, need to be synchronised so that nobody has any unfair advantage. This can then be followed up with the synchronisation of the transfer window.
Once this has been implemented then the only way clubs can lose players at different times would be to clubs outside of Europe such as the MLS or Chinese Super League sides and, in fairness, if the players want to go to one of those then they are either greedy or past it!
In conclusion, if this change of date leads to the other European Leagues following suit, then it has been a positive move. If not, then all it has achieved is to further disadvantage the Premier League clubs in Englaand.
WHY SAY ANYTHING? 