In a move that doesn’t surprise anyone, the Premier League has decided to move their summer transfer deadline back to the end of August rather than before the season. A common sentiment I have been hearing from managers and journalists alike is that it was a good idea in principle but flawed because the continent didn’t align with the deadline. Now, I have got to be honest, I don’t buy this argument at all.
In the last two seasons, I feel like we have watched the highest quality of opening fixtures in the history of the Premier League and a big reason was that the squads were settled. Importantly, the story was focused on football on the pitch, not off it. Also, which clubs were really unsettled and not secure because of interest from the continent? Significantly, how many clubs on the continent can actually afford to buy good players from the Premier League in a manner that would unsettle a side? Maybe just Real, Barca and Bayern; the fact that none of the trio managed it in two seasons suggest it would always be an anomaly for them to get a big player so late in their window anyway.
The reversion back to the original deadline is not the win that some managers like to believe it is. The real victors over here are the media and lovers of gossip. The big loser — don’t expect quality football in August or September. Here’s the thing with executing good ideas. You have to stick with them even if it takes time and there is plenty of opposition. It seems with this sort of decision-making, football is indeed proving itself to be a mirror of real life governance.