Even before the Christmas decorations had fallen, everyone’s attention had already turned to the January transfer window.
The Winter Market allows managers to sign new players and sell squad members they deem surplus to the previous campaign’s requirements.
Fans eagerly anticipate what business their beloved team will achieve, while senior club officials spend their time poring over the finances of a buy or sell.
But how does the transfer window actually work and how do players moving teams in football differ from how it happens in other sports around the world?
Athleticism answered these questions and more…
What is the transfer window?
A transfer window allows football clubs to buy and sell players for a set period each year.
The main takes place during the summer, at the end of the club season in most European nations, and normally lasts around two and a half months. Windows normally open in June and close just before the start of the next campaign or at the start of this one. premier league the clubs voted to ensure it was closed before a next season game was played in 2018, but later reversed that decision in 2020.
There is also a winter window, beginning in early January, which lasts for one month. This winter, the Premier League window opened on January 1 and closes on January 31.
What is the difference between winter window and summer window?
The summer period for player swaps tends to be when clubs make strategic signings, while the nature of January, towards the middle of the season for many clubs, means it has a more reactive element.
For example, teams normally make winter window signings to replace injured players, to try to extricate themselves from a relegation slump, or to capitalize on a strong start and push for a higher league finish and/or trophies.
When does the January transfer window open and close?
For English clubs, the January transfer window opens on Sunday January 1, 2023 and ends at 23:00 GMT on Tuesday January 31.
Does this mean that no transfer takes place until then?
Clubs can agree transfers before January 1, but they won’t become official – and the player concerned won’t be able to join their new team – until the window opens.
liverpool finalized the signing of the Dutch striker Cody Gakpo in the last week of December, but it wasn’t confirmed until January.
Players who find themselves out of work can sign for a club at any time of the year, while a special waiver can be granted to clubs if they need to acquire a player urgently.
Common examples of this are when their senior goalkeepers are injured and a new one is needed. It happened to Southampton in December last year, when Alex McCarthy and Fraser Forster were both sidelined, allowing former chelsea guardian Willy Caballero to join before January.
Basically, how do transfer fees work?
A transfer fee is essentially financial compensation.
Since the selling club owns the player’s contractual playing rights, it is up to the buying club to negotiate a fee to purchase those playing rights.
What are the stages of a transfer?
Although talks have likely taken place between clubs and intermediaries long before any moves are complete, the first step that gets the ball rolling is for the buying team to agree a fee with the selling club.
Once this has happened, the player is allowed to speak to the buying club to work out personal terms and, if done, undergo a medical examination. When these two boxes are checked, the transfer is generally confirmed by both teams.
When do clubs start negotiating deals?
Football clubs are normally in talks with agents and other intermediaries throughout the year, lining up potential targets.
Those initial conversations — those with the next summer in mind — tend to start in September and October, before everyone’s attention shifts to the winter window looming in November and December.
Once January is over, the focus shifts back to summer. But it will take until the end of the European season, in May or early June, for the months of planning and discussions to come to fruition.
It was evident in Manchester City recently activated a release clause for the Norwegian striker Erling HaalandGerman club contract Borussia Dortmund. This is the result of several months of discussions with the player and his representatives.
How does this compare to the system in other sports?
American National Soccer League (NFL) and National Basketball Association (NBA), for example, have a different system than what we are used to in football.
For starters, there are no transfer fees when players change clubs in the NFL and NBA, but teams can offer picks in the annual draft of players graduating from the college-level supply system, for which there is no equivalent in football with its pyramid system. divisions, as payment if they want to sign a player who is under contract with another franchise. Swap deals, rare in football, are common, with clubs swapping one player for another of similar quality, for several players of lesser quality, or for a set of players and draft picks.
There is a free agent market, like in football, that allows teams to sign players out of contract after the season is over, but teams are not allowed to execute such trades until March in the case of the NFL. after the Super Bowl at midday. -February, and the NBA Finals in June.
How is the transfer system different MLS?
For teams in MLS to get the most non-MLS players, the player must be on the team’s “Discovery List”. If the player has already been listed by another MLS club, the interested team must pay the remaining $50,000 in General Allocation Money (GAM) – an intra-MLS transaction fund – to acquire him.
A player’s transfer/loan fee is added to salaries to determine its impact on a team’s league-mandated salary budget ($4.9 million in 2022). There are many mechanisms by which teams can spend well over their budget, with the Designated Player rule being the best known.
MLS has two transfer windows. The “primary” takes place during the league’s winter off-season and in the first weeks of the league in the spring. The “secondary” window occurs during the season and runs from July 7 to August 4 of this year.
Don’t the players have a say in their future?
As their signature is required on the contract, players finally have the final world they want to play on.
Clubs work closely with intermediaries when selling or buying players, and if each has done their job correctly, the player shouldn’t be surprised where they go.
If an agent, for example, has multiple clubs interested in a client, then they will look at each together and discuss which option is best, how much the teams are willing to pay and other factors they think are worthwhile. to consider.
What are the main possible winter transfers?
One of the biggest moves of the January window has already taken place after Liverpool confirmed the signing of Cody Gakpo.
There is also significant interest in Benfica Enzo Fernandezone of the stars of world Cupwith Chelsea particularly keen on his signature.
Arsenal has been pursuing Mykhailo Mudryk in recent months and has been in talks with his club Shakhtar Donetsk. But Chelsea have also entered the striker race.
But many transactions are likely to take place this summer. Liverpool, for example, need reinforcements in midfield, but both Matheus Nunes and Jude Bellinghampossible targets, are likely to move in the summer rather than this window.
Is this system used in world football?
Global governing body FifaThe club regulations define two annual periods (transfer windows) during which clubs can buy and sell players.
The exact timings for these, however, are set by each country’s football associations, with not all domestic seasons running on the same schedule.
For example, the Premier League’s winter window closed this year on January 31, while the Turkish Super Lig’s remained open until February 8.
This means that Turkish clubs could potentially buy players from Englandthis week’s top flight when Premier League sides were reportedly unable to bring in a replacement as the window had already closed.
(Photo of Robert Lewandowski(Ronny Hartmann/AFP via Getty Images)