SteemSports Presenter: @feekayo
SteemSports Editor: Nolan Jacobson, @theprophet0, STEEM Witness & PeerPlays Witness.
Suspense, drama, betrayal, redemption. Welcome to the world of the soccer transfer window. Even though this post is coming late as the transfer window is already in full swing, it promises to be intriguing and fun; catching up with the dealings of the transfer window, what do you need to know? For those unfamiliar with soccer (football) and it's nitty gritties, I'll let Wikipedia explain further.
The transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other countries into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. The "Transfer window" is the unofficial term commonly used by the media for the concept of "registration period" as described in the FIFA Regulations on the Status and the transfer of Player. According to the rules, each national football association decides on the time (such as the dates) of the 'window' but it may not exceed 12 weeks. The second registration period occurs during the season and may not exceed four weeks.
Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transfer_window
The summer transfer window in most of the major European soccer leagues (Spain, France, Germany, Italy) open for business on the 1st of June and close on the 31st of August, and while teams from England cannot register players until their window opens on the 1st of July, they are undeterred in their pursuit of quality players.
In this sportscast, for the purpose of easing non-ardent fans of European soccer into the intrigues and complexities the summer transfer window, we shall be focusing the 5 major European soccer leagues and provide periodic updates on the happenings at the major football clubs.
The Major Football Clubs
Spain
Real Madrid: Fresh off winning the Champions league (for an unprecedented 12th time) and the Spanish league title. Rumors are rife about in-coming and outgoing players. Already, one of their most loyal servants over the past 10 seasons (Defender, Pepe, Age 34) has confirmed his exit from the club as a free agent, after been unable to negotiate terms for a new contract.
Barcelona: fresh off a totally underwhelming season by their own lofty standards, FC Barcelona has already paved the way for a massive top to bottom shake up of their whole system by parting ways with their coach for the last 3 seasons, Luis Enrique and have already signed up Ernesto Valverde; the erstwhile coach of Club Athletic Bilbao
Athletico Madrid: A football club recently on the rise, but has been shackled down by a transfer ban (for illegal trading in youth players) till at-least the end of this current window. Even though the ban stops Athletico from signing any new players, it will be intriguing to see if anyone would be able to tempt them (with enough cash) into selling off one of their prized assets
Germany
Bayern Munich: hands down Germany's best club, fresh off a totally horrible season by their standards (won only the Bundesliga title); it would be intriguing to see if they decide to follow the path of Barcelona and attempt to totally rejig their system (especially after the confirmed retirements of two club stalwarts, Xabi Alonso and Philip Lahm). So far not much signs of an overhaul, but the rumor mill is always ripe with juicy tidbits
Borrusia Dortmund: fresh off a season that left fans with more questions than answers. Recently targets of a bombing that left the whole world reeling; carried out by a man who can be simply described as a financial terrorist. Borrusia Dortmund finally scored a point against eternal rivals, Bayern Munich by suprising knocking them out of the DFB Pokal and then going on to win it. Winning the DFB Pokal, however proved to be just paper over cracks that appeared at the club. The just concluded season was uninspiring on the pitch and off it; with infighting reported between the manager and club president over diverse issues. The manager has since been fired and replaced. However, many questions still remain to be answered.
France
Paris St Germain: perennial champions were knocked off their perch last season by upstarts AS Monaco. It will be interesting to watch how they try to pick themselves up. Their last adventure into champions league football opened up a can of worms about the mental resilience of the squad; that needs to be sorted out sooner rather than later
AS Monaco: Breathtaking team, the world would think twice before they look down on a group of school boys. Fresh off a season of exhilarating performances where they broke the odds and won the Ligue one title; they now look set to be ripped for parts as teams with bigger wallets look to prize away exciting gems from this club. Bernando Silva has already left for Manchester City, and the rumor mill agog with rumors about more than 7 others, it will be intriguing to see how many they can hold on to
Italy
Juventus: just off a great season; in spite of the embarrassing 4-1 drubbing by Real Madrid in the Champions league final, Juventus remains a titan in world football. Few players can say no to the allure of glory Juventus guarantees. Let us keep track of how The Old Lady of Turin reinforces her ranks
AC Milan: nobody can argue AC Milan's history; sadly, the club has been kind of a joke in recent seasons, every step forward has been seemingly countered with three steps back. They, however, still remain football royalty and a recent purchase of the club by cash rich Chinese investors promises to unleash something special on the football scene. They have are already being linked with some big moves, let's see how they play out
Inter Milan: essentially the same story as their neighbours. Only recently great, looking for a come back, bad couple (7 and counting) of seasons, just acquired by Chinese investors, linked with some big moves over the next couple of months
England
Manchester United: they are coming off a great-ish season. They won 3 trophies last season but their detractors would argue that the trophies they won were all in second rate tournaments. They were very often uninspiring and struggled to make any impact in the Premier League and FA Cup in spite of spending record amounts in the window last summer. With all that said, there is no question about quality in parts of their squad, their manager is arguably the best in the world and they would definitely only get better. There is no question of whether they would buy? Rather the question is how much they will spend
Manchester City: In what was supposed to be Pep Guardiola's triumphant entry to the Premier League; City flattered to deceive. While there were many inspired moments from City's attack, the aged back-line (especially the wing-backs) severely let them down. It is therefore not surprising that city recently released as many as 5 players thus far. They recently confirmed the signing of Bernando Silva from Monaco. With more reinforcements needed, it will be exciting to watch how the next couple of months play out.
Arsenal FC: Off a terrible season where they failed to qualify for the Champions league for the first time in 21 years. Arsenal would no doubt want to strengthen their squad, luring quality players without the promise of champions league football might be a long shot. Kolasinic has already joined to provide more quality at the left back position and while rumors are rife about the likes of Sanchez and Bellerin been snapped up, it would be an interesting journey; watching Arsenal's dealings in the transfer window
Chelsea FC: What words can be used to describe Chelsea last season? Some would say great, some would say fantastic. In my opinion; it left a lot of questions to be answered about whether the team can compete in Europe next season. I am sure the Chelsea board share the same opinion as me, as I do with the rumor mills saying Chelsea is looking to strengthen about 6 positions in the squad. Diego Costa just all but confirmed his exit from the club with Romelu Lukaku and/or Alvaro Morata are being mooted as possible successors. It will definitely be an intriguing summer for Chelsea fans and Detractors
Liverpool FC: Historically Englands' top club, finally returning to the champions after what has seemed like a very long absence. It has been a very quite summer so far. They have sealed a deal for Chelsea youngster; Dominic Solanke. They also look poised to sign former Chelsea winger Mohammed Salah from AS Roma. There is no doubt that Liverpool is in dire need of reinforcements all around the pitch in order to improve on their 4th place finish in the league last season
Whatever happens over the next two months, I @feekayo will be here providing the updates and indepth analysis of the intrigues of the transfer market... cheers!
This post is so good and outlined all my top sport teams... hope to read more quality post from you guy, thanks
Thanks. I'm glad you enjoyed the post
Such a good report.
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Great article! Such a pitty the transfer ban for atletico! I really like el cholo!
Yeah. It's a real shame. But I trust El cholo. He'll still find a way to make it work
Arsenal are doing great this season hope the transfer won't sabotage their success.Great article keep up the good work