Columnist and market man for Tuttomercatoweb, he is a speaker and radio commentator for Radio Sportiva. Market and rumors on Rai Sport
The little things, the simplest ones, when they arrive and overturn the order and the status quo seem like a revolution. And in this case, when logic prevails and wins over improvisation, over complications, then there is reason to rejoice. Here I am. The news that has spread in England in recent days and was anticipated by the Times finds more than confirmation in the circles of Italian and international football. The big leagues agree, and all the components equally, on a point that will revolutionize the transfer market: closing before the start of the big leagues. All together. A proposal that started last summer in Italy and was wrecked after the stoppage of La Liga. The last resistance, at the moment, always comes from Spain but the pressure from the other four championships is strong. The Iberians have not yet made a global decision, the players and coaches are pushing for a yes, to understand what the clubs want to do.
A revolution that makes (almost) everyone happy
It was a cry for help from the coaches and even the managers. Close the transfer window with a single date in Europe and before the start of the championships. The Premier League clubs had a London summit in recent days: around a table they established, practically unanimously, that the decision can and must be made. Except that it cannot be from a single championship, otherwise this solution would risk becoming a harakiri. We need harmony with the big leagues but the Premier immediately moved with the leaders of the other leagues and the responses seemed to be univocal from everyone. Not just closing the transfer market before the start of the relevant championship but doing it all together. Is everyone happy? Almost.
The problem of Saudi Arabia
Even now the closure of the markets is not unique throughout the world. But it’s one thing that it isn’t in Turkey, where it rather becomes an occasion and an opportunity for the ‘unsold’ and for the thorny cases to find a new great championship in which to test themselves, it’s one thing that it isn’t in Saudi Saudi. Let’s take a very easy example: the market is closed to entry for the big European leagues but the Saudi X team makes an offer outside the ‘normal’ parameters for a star of that club. In terms of salary and also of price tag, of course. What to do in that case? Because if the club can refuse, the player could then put his foot down, create imbalances and even in the event of a very wealthy farewell, replacing him would no longer be possible. A flaw that will have to be resolved, although closing the market even on exit is impossible (and would create other problems, such as the impossibility of thinning out the squads at the end of the session).
What will happen now?
There are no official steps expected in the next few days (yet). However, the dialogue between the leagues and all interested components remains active. Checks also carried out in Italy with the various associations confirm that there is agreement on a solution towards this direction, in our country as well as in England but also in France and Germany and as we have already mentioned Spain. Ca va sans dire, even the other important leagues in Europe will soon join in, is the shared feeling. “It’s not utopia, we’re talking about it”, the CEO of Lega Serie A, Luigi De Siervo, had already said in recent weeks. As mentioned: no official steps have been taken even with the English Football Association, meetings will arrive later to try to formalize the process. And FIFA’s support will also be needed for an open dialogue with the other major world championship which risks, as mentioned, creating a distortion in this logical path. Saudi Arabia. And who knows, maybe he can put a place in the Champions League on the table to come…