Time to Smash the Transfer Window?

By: Daryl | January 30th, 2009

According to the Daily Mail, English Premier League clubs could be planning an end to transfer windows. And because it’s the Daily Mail, the main thrust of the argument is that the current transfer window system (teams can only sign players in the summer, or in January) was imposed on England by Europe.

Delegates at the next Premier meeting, scheduled for Thursday, will be invited to discuss the possibility and wisdom of scrapping the January window as well as the ramifications of pursuing such a radical policy.

Any eventual move to allow transfers to take place throughout the year, not just January and the summer months, would put England out of kilter with the rest of Europe and incur the wrath of UEFA president Michel Platini.

So it’s basically the Daily Mail doing a bit of anti-European stirring (for a change). But that doesn’t mean it’s not worth thinking about.

Personally, I’m not a huge fan of the transfer window. But not for the same reasons as Gareth Southgate and Steve Bruce.

Southgate sees it as an unnecessary distraction while Bruce believes the window encourages players to move and allows the big clubs to unsettle players at lesser clubs, especially in January. Bruce has a point – he’s lost Wilson Palacios and Emile Heskey in the past week.

My feeling is that transfers are exciting. They just are. I think because it’s always fascinating to see how a player performs at a new club, and because a big transfer freshens up the familiar look of the league. I’d be in favour of allowing transfers all year round, just so clubs could keep us all on our toes by springing a big move at any moment.

But I don’t see how that would make Southgate’s players more focused or make it easier for the likes of Bruce to hold on to his players. If clubs could bid at any time, then surely teams like Wigan would be in constant danger of losing players?

The alternative is to have no transfer window at all during the season, which I think makes a lot of sense.

Basically you can make signings in the summer between seasons but once the league kicks off, that’s it. No transfers in January, so your squad at the start of the season is your squad for the whole season. At least that would guarantee that smaller clubs held on to their players. At least until the following summer…