The Wolves of FIFA Street

Twice per year, soccer fans go through an emotional roller coaster on what is called the Transfer Deadline Day. It’s a day that punctuates periods of board room and back room drama with either jubilation or heartbreak among club supporters. If you’ve ever seen news reports of players moving from one club to another for fees in excess of 100 million pounds or euros, that is the product of the twice-yearly transfer window. There are two camps of soccer fans when it comes to the business end of soccer: those who feel as though the mega millions are ruining the purity of the game, and those who relish in every moment of the transfer window.

French Ligue 1 Club Paris Saint-Germain payed $263 million dollars in a blockbuster transfer fee for Brazillian forward Neymar.

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The periods for the two windows are consistent from year-to-year, but teams are always scouting for talented players from different leagues and countries. Essentially, players are contracted to teams, and those teams own their rights for the duration of that contract. However, players do have a degree of agency. If a player is unhappy with their role at a club, they can request a transfer to another club. At the same time, clubs can communicate between each other and inquire about potential moves where a player's contract can be bought out for a transfer fee. For the best players like Killian M'Bappe, Neymar, or Paul Pogba, these fees can range between 100 and 200 million dollars.

The main window where all the big money moves happen is the summer transfer window. This is a two month period from the first day of July to the last day of August. This is when the European teams are aiming to invest in star players or extremely talented youngsters. The winter transfer window starts on the first day of January and closes on the last day. Since the European leagues are half-way through their seasons at this point, they use this opportunity to fill in holes left by injuries at certain positions. Or in the case of the largest clubs in the world, it's just a good opportunity to splash some cash and bolster their roster's depth. At the end of these windows, the last day is referred to as Transfer Deadline Day. At the end of that day, all deals must be finalized for players to move to new clubs.

For the big leagues in Europe, their main strategy centers on looking for the next teenager with potential superstar qualities ore established starters who can lead the team for years to come. Lower leagues are often left trying to play the "money-ball" game to foster young talent or scoop up the services of once great veterans who are past the prime of their careers. Either way, teams are using tactics and strategies to grow their influence and attract bigger stars or entice their talented youngsters to stay. Some fans, primarily of lower-league clubs, think that it detracts from the purity of the game. However, there's always a chance that a fledgling club can eventually rise to prominence (or get bought out by ultra-rich business barons or royalty, as is the case with the likes of Chelsea FC or Manchester City).

It’s the art of the deal and the art of war all wrapped up into one wild deadline day.

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As I stated earlier, clubs can communicate among each other about potential business moves. In most cases, a club owning the rights to a player can deny these inquiries. However, certain contracts have what is called a buyout clause, which is a magic number, which if exceeded, means that player can make a deal with an outside club without the denial from the ownership.

Whether fans of smaller clubs like it or not, there's a unique quality to the transfer window that allows their team to improve their prospects in the short term, which leads to better results, which leads to more money to improve their stature. Loans are an important part to the transfer window, because it benefits teams two-fold. Larger clubs have young players, typically between the ages of 16 and 23 that haven't found their way into the starting rotation. Since the larger clubs don't want those players to stagnate, they protect their investment by loaning these players to smaller clubs.

As is the case with all business dealings, there is a ton of legal contracts and stipulations tied to these moves. And sometimes, court battles can shake up the way that the transfer market works, and there's one case that every player these days can be happy about. Today, players can allow their contracts to run out with their clubs and then they are free to move to other clubs after the contract expires. This is what is called moving on a free. However, that wasn't always the case before the mid-1990s. In 1995, a landmark case, colloquially known as the Bosman Ruling, involved a former Belgian player Jean-Marc Bosman. He was contracted to Belgian team RFC Liege, but that contract had run its course, and Bosman wanted to move to French team Dunkerque, but Dunkerque had refused to pay the ~500,000 dollar transfer fee that RFC Liege had demanded. This severely affected Bosman's wages since he wasn't playing and could not move to another team. At the end of an arduous legal battle, it was determined that Bosman had the right to leave his club at the end of his contract and play for a different club. Now, all clubs are legally required to allow their players to leave should those players refuse to sign new contracts and extend their services to that club.

DC United fans very nearly had a collective heart attack.

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As an MLS fan, and a fan of DC United, I know all-too-well the perils of supporting a lower-league team whose players are often subject to inquiries from larger clubs. As a DC United supporter before this year, the team had a conservative approach to doing business. We didn't scoop up big-name veterans like David Beckham or Steven Gerrard. But that changed in 2018 when the club opened up a new stadium and made a blockbuster move to secure the services of English legend Wayne Rooney. Yes, that Wayne Rooney who won loads of trophies and personal accolades at Manchester United. That was a high point as a fan, and his spark helped ignite the team from bottom of the league to playoff contenders.

A big reason for DC United’s success was the fruitful on-the-field relationship Rooney established with DC United's Argentine winger Luciano Acosta. Lucho, as we call him, took to Rooney's style and his goal scoring and assist opportunities skyrocketed. With that success, Lucho's production drew the attention of French Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), who had recently lost their star winger Neymar to injury. I and pretty much the rest of the die-hard DC United fans felt dismayed by the potential move of Lucho to PSG. However, with all the madness of the transfer window closing on deadline day, the deal fell through and we all breathed a sigh of relief that we would have Lucho for one more year, and potentially, a shot at the MLS championship.

Through all of the 'will they, won't they' drama of the transfer window, fans will either relish in the moment or bemoan the lack of soul that exists in today's game. Ultimately, business savvy is just as integral to a team's success as their performance on the field. What's so exciting is the chance for small teams to make intelligent business decisions to improve their performance. And it's just as likely that the once great titans of the league can find themselves wallowing further and further down the standings. Take a moment to look up the story of Leicester City, which rose to prominence from lower divisions in the English Football Association to winning the Premier League championship in 2016. What's undeniable is how deeply woven into the fabric of football that business has become. It's a fascinating aspect of the game, and it's a little bit fun to follow once you get into it. At the same time, it's just as easy to completely ignore all of that and enjoy the Beautiful Game. Live well and watch more soccer.