Not all the leagues in Europe begin on the same date, which is why there’s a “universal” summer transfer window deadline, but the ridiculosness of teams having to sell their players three or four matches into the season is a situation that needs to be changed, and Jose Mourinho, who usually loves to focus on himself and his club, is absolutley right in his call to change this absurd situation.
Chelsea are about to play their second match of the season in the Premier League, but they can still add players, with Mourinho admitting the team is still looking for a striker, with most predicting that either Wayne Rooney of Manchester United or Samuel Eto’o of Anzhi are going to end up in Stamford Bridge.
Yet while Mourinho is simply playing according to the rules that might actually benefit him in this situation, being a manager of one of the richer clubs in Europe, he knows the scenario in which a team begins a season and then suddenly might end up losing one of their best players after three or four matches is absurd.
Arsene Wenger shouldn’t be chastised for making a bid for Yohan Cabaye, which Alan Pardew feels had a direct connection to his team’s awful performance against Manchester City, losing 4-0. Wenger himself has lost Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri and Robin van Persie very late in the transfer window, with Nasri even putting in a few matches in 2011 for Arsenal before forcing out his departure to Manchester City.
But this option of adding players after the season actually begins also works badly for teams with buying power, like Arsenal, although the Arsene Wenger is truly a unique example of mishandling the situation. Teams can afford to mishandle the transfer market and then suddenly go into panic buy mode on the final day of the transfer window, which goes against everything the team-building manual for the new seasons tells you to do. Arsenal went in that direction in 2011, and Manchester City did something similar last year. Both of them ended up disappointed with the result.