Players ‘could seek moves to ensure their World Cup place’
TOURNAMENT WILL HAVE IMPACT ON TRANSFER MARKET - RODGERS
LEICESTER City manager Brendan Rodgers expects players who feel “vulnerable” over their place at the World Cup to seek moves during the final few weeks of the transfer window.
This season is a unique one in that there will be a pause to accommodate the first-ever winter World Cup, held in Qatar in November and December.
But while it is a few months away, Rodgers anticipates it impacting the transfer window.
With seasons under way, players are getting a better idea of where they stand in their managers’ plans for the campaign.
But unlike previous World Cup years, where the competition would take place in the summer after the domestic season is over, there is no opportunity to see how things go until January, and then seek a move, as that would be too late.
With the World Cup only coming around every four years, players won’t want to miss out on an opportunity to represent their country on football’s biggest stage.
Rodgers expects that to have an impact on the remaining weeks of the window.
He said: “If you’re a player who’s maybe unsure of your place in the national team or squad, I’m pretty sure you’ll want to go and play in that opening part of the season to prove you are going to be in that selection.
“For players there is no doubt it’s different.
“Maybe if the World Cup is at the end of the season they can see how it goes for six months and then move in January on loan.
“I definitely think there’s a case there for people who feel vulnerable about being in the squad feeling they have to play.”
Rodgers has a few players in his squad fighting to get to the World Cup.
Timothy Castagne, Youri Tielemans (both Belgium), Danny Ward (Wales), Daniel Amartey (Ghana), and Papy Mendy (Senegal) are all very likely to be selected, but the likes of James Maddison, James Justin, Harvey Barnes (all England),
Jannik Vestergaard, Daniel Iversen (both Denmark), Dennis Praet (Belgium) and Wesley Fofana (France) are battling for their respective international manager’s attention.
However, those who do not head to Qatar will still be going away, with the club planning a warm weather training camp during the six-week pause to the Premier League. Rodgers said: “Towards the end of last season we had a plan on what that would look like, through to November. “There’s a little rest period after our last game against West Ham on November 12 and then we’ll go for some warm weather training. “Then we’ve got the rest of our plan through until we play on Boxing Day, so it’s mapped out.”