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CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GOALS
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As 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.
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
In England, it was less shocking but even more dramatic when Carlo Ancelotti abandoned his project at Everton to jump onto the Madrid ship recently vacated by Zinedine Zidane. While it was an emotional moment when Nuno Espirito Santo announced his time was up at Wolverhampton. All these coaches had varying reasons to be on the move, meaning that it is difficult to attribute the events to a single reason. However, the nature of the move suggests that two factors were key—finances and the toll of a relentless season. For Conte, Max Allegri, Mourinho, and even Nuno Espirito Santo, the desire to have some measure of control over the incomings and outgoings led to their departure. For Zidane and Galtier the stress of a relentless season caught up with them and they are now looking to cut their teeth in other places.
THE EFFECT
Because of this, there is now an abundance of free capable hands who can do a good job in top clubs. Top coaches like Ancelotti, Mourinho, Allegri, Nagelsmann, Sarri, Simone Inzaghi, and Gattuso have already found new homes. While the likes of Conte, Zidane, Frank Lampard, Rafa Benitez, Joachim Low, Eddie Howe, Paulo Fonseca, Nuno, Andrea Pirlo, Ernesto Valverde, and Lucien Favre are yet to find permanent jobs. All these coaches and many more unlisted ones can transform a club’s fortunes for the better, or for the worse.
THE POSSIBILITIES
If Tottenham, for example, with all their flaws can hire a coach like Conte who is a proven winner, expect a player like Harry Kane to stay back and fight with the Italian. The same goes for Everton who are in the market for a replacement for Ancelotti. A coach like Lucien Favre will certainly fit the bill there and could transform the club the same way Brendan Rodgers has transformed Leicester City. Crystal Palace also are at crossroads and their next hire will decide if they kick on from here on slide fully into mediocrity. And whichever club Zidane ends up in will certainly have a change of fortunes as the Frenchman is one of the most decorated coaches out there at the moment. Whatever happens this summer, expect the biggest transfer steal to be the transfer of a manager. We have seen coach transfers change the shape of a team and indeed an entire league. From the look of things, this season might be one of those when a manager will walk into a team and change their lives forever. Just ask Liverpool, or Manchester City.
ABOVE LEFT: Nuno Espirito Santo was well respected by everyone such as De Gea
ABOVE RIGHT Will Conte be in a dugout next season or will he be taking a year off?
BELOW: Harry Kane
