A New Soccer Age: Why This Summer Transfer Window Will Be the Craziest of The Decade
Believe it or not, it’s the end of the great footballing generation.
This past Saturday, the summer transfer window opened for the Italian Serie A, German Bundesliga, French Ligue 1 and Premier League– and it’s already looking extraordinary.
Is it because of Messi’s transfer to Inter Miami? Benzema’s to Al-Ittihad? Or even Cesc Fábregas’ retirement as of this week? I say there’s a lot more to it.
For years fútbol has been pretty simple: watch Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Juventus and the Big Six in England and you should be covered. Of course the whole world had their eyes on the Lionel Messi, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo– they were (and still are) magicians of the sport. But there was also the lingering mentality that fans did not have to watch everything to feel truly part of the game.
In recent times, fútbol has become more of a global sport that it ever was: PSG has become respectable again with the rise of Kylian Mbappé, and Manchester City has taken over as the world’s premier soccer club. Dortmund almost broke Bayern’s 11-season title winning streak, and Napoli beat Juventus and the Milans to the Scudetto. And with Brighton and Newcastle challenging the top of the Premier League table, there’s no sense of a Big Six anymore!
Not to mention Champions League has expanded and evolved, just as soccer grows in nations like the U.S. and Saudi Arabia. The “moving on” and retirement of old-age heroes only caps off the major changes occurring around the globe.
Take a look at Messi and Ronaldo– two glory days superstars who recently picked money and attention over “top-tier football”. For them, the sport has become less a competition and more like old-age entertainment: gladiators fought against each other more for the monarch’s enjoyment than city pride or competitive spirit. Similarly, soccer veterans have become pawns for TV broadcasters and multi-millionaires like Inter Miami owner David Beckham.
In other words, true soccer is turning into a sport for the young.
Big-name clubs transfer away their veterans for the smartest, the fastest, the youngest players on the market. As the biggest stars of the last generation leave their prime, this process has only expedited.
So how does this affect this year’s transfer market?
I expect a massive exodus of all big-team European players aged 32+ who are not deemed crucial by the club. The shift has already begun, with acclaimed veterans like Kalidou Koulibaly moving to Saudi Arabia one year after his big shot in the Premier League with Chelsea– it seemed like his whole career was leading up to the English transfer, and then he gave it all up in a heartbeat.
Celtic’s Jota and Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino have similar stories. Just years ago they would have left their clubs as heroes and moved to the likes of Tottenham and Real Madrid (respectively), but now going to Saudi Arabia.
Coming off of possibly a career-best season, İlkay Gündoğan should be the first player Manchester City wants to resign for the 2023–24 season; instead, he was off to Barcelona before the transfer window even opened.
Just think: if Messi was at this point in his career ten years ago, would his top two choices for a transfer still be Inter Miami and Al Hilal? Or would they be Manchester United, Bayern Munich and FC Napoli?
We’re in for quite the summer transfer window, fútbol fans. All I can say is sit back, open up your ESPN fútbol page…
And let the chaos begin.
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Thanks for reading my story! You can read more about the beautiful game here: https://medium.com/@gianlombeyda
Let me know what you think about the developing football world in the comments!
