13. The transfer window!

Quite regularly us Scots hear about the “pub” league we have representing the top division of football. Most people will agree that the differences in the game North and South are vast, from the fan bases to money and, most importantly, passion. Our game here is known as a tough league, less skill than down south, more physical – but never as easy as some predict. While our southern counterparts host some of the best talents in the world, playing some outstanding football but a lot of the time in stadiums full of plastic tourists. I think its about time the game in Scotland is recognised in its own way. Leagues can’t be compared to each other as the foundations of football are completely different.

Money, Money, Money.

£11.5m is the total “winnings” of the bottom 3 clubs in the English Premiership.
£4.2m is the total winnings of the top 3 in the Scottish Premiership.
Neither taking into account TV money…

Money is getting flung around English football and it’s escalating rather quickly. Not that they aren’t seeing results, both European finals were contested as all English finals, but when will this bubble burst?

English Pounds Raheem…

Lets look back to 2011, when a few members of the Liverpool board produced their card in the ‘mental transfer value’ game. £35m for Andy Carroll. THIRTY FIVE MILLION! Mental money which turned out to be worth 6 goals in one season. Not sure what Sir Kenny was thinking, if he was thinking at all. This transfer will forever appear in the worst transfer business polls, and there are plenty more contenders. Back to modern days, there is speculation surrounding Harry McGuire and that figure is around the £80m mark. Whispers circulating that both sides of Manchester are after his signature. I mean, hes a good central defender, but is he worth more than arguably the best in the world in his position? Virgil van Dijk went for £76m and was twice the player then, never mind now!

Teams outside of England are fully taking advantage of the money being tossed about. Shakhtar Donetsk took in a cool £52m for Fred when Man United came calling, his impact has been less than impressive. It doesn’t just effect the big boys though, Fulham have been relegated this year having spent over £100m on 12 new players. These players look to have disrupted a team who were so impressive in the Championship. The season of misery could be summed up by squandering their highest transfer figure of £30m on Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa. A name more impressive than his ability as he has looked completely out his depth in the Premier League. Time will tell how he copes in the Championship. This frenzy of hyperinflation is taking over Europe and its beginning to make its way to Scotland.

Legal tender!

Scott McKenna has enjoyed a good couple of years at Aberdeen, but the greed that surrounds football saw Aberdeen reject a bid of £6.5m on deadline day from Championship side Aston Villa. McKenna has crept his way into the Scotland set up, but has never been someone who’s massively impressed me (apart from that wonder goal vs Killie…). First bit of bias here, for me, Stuart Findlay has had a more impressive 2 years than McKenna but has went under the radar. So, should McKenna be worth more than £6.5m – or are Scottish clubs now waiting for the ridiculous bid they expect will come?

Still bargains to be had.

There’s no doubt there are bargains to be had. I present Frenkie De Jong, bought by Ajax for €1 who has made 55 appearances and scored 5 goals – an excellent return of 0.02c per goal. He has been sold to Barcelona for a profit of €74,999,999 with boyhood club Willem II getting 10% of that fee. The Dutch have some businessmen at the helm of their clubs!

You don’t get anything for free these days…

The best way to get a bargain deal? Don’t pay a penny in transfer fees. The end of the season signals football agents smelling money while waiting for the phone to ring. Their clients eagerly waiting to see who comes calling. Teams have picked up gems in this way for years, here are a few;

Jay Jay Okocha – Once Nigeria’s most expensive footballer after a £10m move to PSG, he somehow found his way to the North of England when Bolton signed him on a free. He went onto make over 140 appearances and became a club legend.

Andrea Pirlo – AC Milan gifted their Serie A rivals Juventus the charismatic midfielder in a very bizarre transfer. He went onto play 164 times and won the league in every year he played at Juve.

Robert Lewandowski – Another reason for Dortmund fans to hate Bayern. Another player who switched to Munich, this time for fuck all. After Mario Gotze made the transfer the previous year, Dortmund refused to let Lewandoswki leave. He ran his contract down and joined Bayern on a free. The Pole has so far amassed a mere 191 goals in 242 appearances as well as 5 league titles – which isn’t a bad return!

Other notable free transfers over recent years;
Esteban Cambiasso (Real Madrid to Inter Milan) 2004
Henrik Larsson (Man United to Barcelona) 2004
Michael Ballack (Bayern Munich to Chelsea) 2006
Raul (Real Madrid to Schalke) 2010
Demba Ba (West Ham to Newcastle) 2011
Paul Pogba (Man United to Juventus) 2012
James Milner (Man City to Liverpool) 2015

Freebies.

This year is no exception, with a number of big names seeing their time out, they’ll now be looking for the next chapter of their footballing life. A look at some of the key freebies on offer this window;

Hatem Ben Arfa – Often considered a ‘nearly man’ he is a gifted footballer who struggled to really reach his potential at Newcastle. He joined Rennes from Lyon last year and his year deal is done, could he provide a spark and continue his form in 2019?

Diego Godin – At 33 the Uruguayan captain finds his contract at Athletico Madrid has finally come to an end. He rejected a move to Manchester United in January so they’ll naturally be eager to speak to him again. Other clubs including Juventus and Inter Milan are sniffing around.

Daniel Sturridge – The striker has been plagued with injury through his career. It seems a life time ago he was starring alongside Luis Suarez at the peak of Liverpool’s attack. Just days after the Champions League success, he was told he was free to leave. At 29, if he can get fit, he could be a big player in 2019.

Other big names who will be looking for employment this year;
Ander Herrera (Formerly of Man United)
Filipe Luis ( Formerly of Athletico Madrid)
Juan Mata ( Formerly of Man United)
Adrien Robiot (Formerly of PSG)
Frank Ribery (Formerly of Bayern Munich)
Arjen Robbem (Formerly of Bayern Munich)
Danny Welbeck (Formerly of Arsenal)

Down the divisions.

Board members, managers, agents and players are all busy looking at where next season takes them. A number of smaller clubs in Scotland regularly offer year long deals, meaning every summer is spent gauging where the strengths and weaknesses of the arrivals and departures sit. The merry-go-round of lower league players takes some from Elgin to Stranraer (270 miles) – part time football at its best. But these guys are making money from a hobby they would likely be doing anyway – so more power to them!

Cheers!