COACHES SPOTLIGHT
"TOP COACHES LIKE ANCELOTTI, MOURINHO, ALLEGRI, NAGELSMANN, SARRI, SIMONE INZAGHI, AND GATTUSO HAVE ALREADY FOUND NEW HOMES."
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s expected, the summer transfer window has opened all across Europe. Despite the endless list of matches currently going on in European and South American championships, that has made it look like the season has not ended, club sides are busy plotting how the next season will go. The window is usually the time teams set aside to bring in additions to their squad to do better in the coming season. In a typical window, there are a lot of outgoings and incomings with some money-spinning moves the chief attraction of the summer. But this summer the mood is different across Europe. Clubs are increasingly unlikely to spend huge in the transfer window this summer. Apart from Chelsea and Manchester City, who are bankrolled by oil oligarchs who are willing to spend over $200million on player transfers, no other team is looking to bring out a substantial sum for player transfers this summer. Even Manchester, whose interest in £80m rated Jadon Sancho is well documented, are dragging their feet in pulling out such a hefty sum to sign one player.
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SOCCER360 JULY • AUGUST 2021
THE CAUSE
This is of course due to the financial uncertainty around football brought about by the pandemic. Losses in matchday revenue and the reduced money coming in from mega TV deals means that there is a dearth of resources needed to pull off huge transfers and marquee signings. Rather, what clubs are concentrating on is balancing the books and maintaining the status quo. Most clubs are keener on contract renewals and trimming down their wage bill in any way possible without affecting their quality. This is leading to fire sales or staggered payment plans in the case of clubs who need to balance their books, with some clubs capitalizing on this to get cheap labour in this window. And so, with player transfers not in “blockbuster mode” this summer, another part of the transfer window has taken a more prominent role and is set to determine the direction of trophies next season. The merry-go-round of manager transfers. All across Europe, managers are on the move and at a rapid and shocking rate. Not since the summer of 2015 and 2016 has
there been a raft of changes in the managerial hot-seat than there is this summer. From Conte to Zidane, Mourinho to Allegri, Ancelotti to Galtier, top coaches are on the move, sharing themselves across Europe’s top teams. The merry-go-round has already begun and will continue. In fact, we have not seen the most sensational of them all yet. For the first time in known recent history, the drama of the transfer window has moved from the stage of the players and turned to their trainers. This means that managerial transfers are likely to be the biggest deals in European football this summer.
THE REASON
When Antonio Conte led Inter Milan to their first Scudetto in eleven years last season, there was a feeling that the Inter dynasty was back. But what played out was a drama that a lot of people are still yet to understand—Conte walked away from Milan. In France, the same drama will play out four days after OSC Lille were crowned Ligue 1 champions—Christophe Galtier quit his role as head coach after becoming just the second coach to dethrone PSG in seven seasons.
ABOVE LEFT: Lille OSC French head coach Christophe Galtier gestures during the French Ligue 1 soccer match, OGC Nice vs Lille OSC ABOVE LEFT (SMALL): Head Coach of Lille OSC Christophe Galtier (R) and Boubakary Soumare of Lille OSC (L) celebrate winning the French Ligue 1 soccer match ABOVE RIGHT: Allegri and Ronaldo reacting during a Serie A game during Allegri's first stint at Juventus
