Transfer window the talk of Europe
MADRID: The European football transfer window may now be closed but there was talk of little else this week as the likes of top coaches Zinedine Zidane, Carlo Ancelotti and even German Chancellor Angela Merkel made calls for sweeping changes.
The subject is at the centre of attention not only because of the soaring inflation that marked the latest round of transfers, but also because of the mayhem losing top players can wreak on a team’s best-laid plans.
The English Premier League clubs voted on Thursday to shut the 2018 close-season window before the start of the 2018-19 campaign in a move that sparked approval across the European game.
The vote followed complaints by managers that transfer activity disturbs their preparations and others in Spain, Germany, Italy and France have been swift to jump on the bandwagon.
The windows in Europe’s other major leagues run until at least Aug 31, meaning clubs outside England could buy players from English top-flight teams after the new Premier League deadline.
Bayern coach Ancelotti, who won the 2014 Champions League title as Real’s head coach after winning it twice at AC Milan, hopes the Bundesliga follows the example set by English clubs.
“No one is happy with the situation, so this is a very good idea,” the Italian said.
In Italy, Juventus director general Giuseppe Marotta also backed the decision.
“It’s the right choice. The transfer market has to be limited, you can’t have players moving when the leagues have already started,” he said.
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has also given his support to making the close-season trading period shorter.
But German Chancellor Merkel on Friday urged UEFA and FIFA to focus instead on stamping out spiralling spending on players.
“I view the financial developments in professional football as critically as many people,” she told regional daily Mittelb ay erische Zeitung.
“Such sums are comprehensible to no one. UEFA and FIFA should change the rules on player transfers to ensure greater balance,” she said. AFP