Arsene Wenger said last week that he wants to scrap the January transfer window. “Either leave it completely open or you close it completely” was his suggestion, and I think he might be on to something.
The January window, although exciting at times, becomes a real chore for managers, players and even fans. The endless rumours build up your hopes and you start to suddenly believe that Man United will sign Luka Modric, deep down though, it’s not going to happen.
Managers are worried about keeping their top players and everyone knows that its harder to sign players in January, a huge domino effect on deadline day usually leads to rush deals and can have a detrimental effect – read Andy Carroll and Fernando Torres.
You might think it’s a good opportunity for players to move if they aren’t happy or have fallen out with a manager but as Wenger points out,
“You can have players saying, ‘If I don’t play, maybe I will leave in January’ so there already less committed”.
If they want to move, why not move in October or November rather than waiting for January. It will allow clubs to concentrate on improving their form and position in the league, rather than worry about an unhappy player disrupting the team harmony.
Off course, not all manager will agree. I’m sure Roberto Mancini would love to be able to sign another world class player instantly should David Silva or Yaya Toure become injured mid-season. And there are definitely clear parameters this way, there are two clear deadlines for submitting a 25-man squad for the league – at the end of August and the end of January.
One idea might be to revert to something similar to the old style. The transfer window could be open up until January and clubs could change their 25-man squad at the end of each month, only to add a newly acquired player, submitting a final list at the end of January – perhaps this area needs a little more thought.
As long as the window is closed from January until July, meaning clubs can’t just buy players to boost their run-in.
Of course the other option is to close the window throughout the season. This could also work. Rush transfers would not occur as much, players and managers will be inclined to think more about a possible transfer, if it ties them down for a whole ten months.
It might also force clubs to dip into their youth policy when injuries hit. If their youth players aren’t up to scratch, it will force them to spend more time on youth development, or more time on their medical facilities to prevent players getting injured easily.
I’m not saying that we should definitely scrap the current system, just that maybe Wenger has a point, because I don’t know about you, but I’ve heard more complaints than praise for the January window.
