Towards a reform of the mercato?

Soccer

The different actors want more justice in the transfer window.
For several seasons now, some clubs feel wronged in the transfer market. In question, the disparity of the dates of the end of the transfer period. All the championships do not finish at the same time which poses a problem for the teams which stop the mercato quickly. This is particularly the case of the Premier League which decided to close the transfer window before all the major European championships. In June, Mauricio Pochettino openly criticized the system: "European clubs have twenty more days to recruit, and I think it's a big mistake in the Premier League. We open the door to other clubs to confuse our team. I think we have to go back and change to work the same way as our rivals. The Premier League can not give this advantage to European clubs. This can create a mess in clubs in England.Jurgen Klopp, the Liverpool coach, was of the same opinion, saying with the frankness that characterizes him: "I do not care about the closing date, but it has to close at the same time."

The Premier League, the big loser

The problem is simple. The Premier League is closing but all other championships can continue to recruit. Therefore, a player from an English club can leave if an outstanding offer is put on the table. However, the club will no longer be able to recruit to replace him. That's what happened with Christian Eriksen who was close to signing Real Madrid in the summer. Tottenham did not give in to the Merengues and the desires of the Dane who wanted to reach the Spanish capital. Finally the player was blocked because Tottenham did not want to sell him without knowing the identity of his replacement. This system therefore disturbs the teams concerned while the initial objective was to do the opposite. The goal was to close the mercato doors just before the start of the championship so that the teams focus solely on this goal. It is clear that he is not reached and that the failure is bitter.

Towards a reform for a more just system?

Lars-Christer Olsson, the president of the Association of European Professional Football Leagues, spoke during the Leaders Sport Business Summit in England: "We discuss, from time to time, the consequences of these different dates of transfer window. (…) It would be better to have all the mercatos aligned. It's a national decision and it has to be validated, everyone has to agree that it really happens. I have no opinion to give on the perfect date, because it must be defined in collaboration with the different competitions. If I look at the system as a whole, I think it would make sense to align the dates. There was an attempt, a couple of years ago, on the part of the European championships to coordinate, at least, the dates of the summer transfer window. We had agreed on an end date, but we did not find a general final consensus "

A unified mercato date could also annihilate some excesses like the Pozuelo case last January. The player absolutely wanted to leave in January what his club Genk had refused. Finally, the Spaniard had still left in … March in the United States. This case had been much talked about in our championship.