Key events
The arrival of Ineos at Manchester United has certainly increased Manchester United’s profile in the transfer gossip market, and there’s talk in the Sun of a move for Inter’s Denzel Dumfries in a swap deal with Aaron Wan-Bissaka going the other way. Dumfries still has 18 months remaining on his contract so United would probabnly have to cough up cash as well as a footballer
The arrival of Ineos at Manchester United has certainly increased Manchester United’s profile in the transfer gossip market, and there’s talk in the Sun of a move for Inter’s Denzel Dumfries in a swap deal with Aaron Wan-Bissaka going the other way. Dumfries still has 18 months remaining on his contract so United would probabnly have to cough up cash as well as a footballer
Preamble
Morning everyone. So, after a tumbleweed-infested couple of weeks, things are beginning to stir a little in the market. And after Jordan Henderson aborted his Saudi mission at the end of last week, the last 24 hours have seen talk of another big-name Saudi signing possibly turning their back on the Kingdom, with Karim Benzema in talks with Lyon. And perhaps the nearest this window has come to the traditional Transfer Window Saga has been the various attempts to lure Kalvin Phillips, with West Ham seemingly in the box seat on that one. Kieran Trippier to Bayern is another biggie to look out for, as are various other ins and outs at St James’ Park, which may or may not involve multi-club ownership shuffling of packs.
Counterpoint: the quietness of this window is a good thing. Clubs were spending too much, the summer Saudi splurge was never sustainable in that volume, and the impending spectre of regulation is doing its job. Overspending skews competition and, in some cases, imperils clubs in the long-term. Ask a Reading fan.
On that subject, why not start your day with Jonathan Liew’s Tuesday column?
We’re fighting in 2024 the battles that should have been fought in 2014 and 2004, or even earlier. Decisions that were botched, shirked, ignored years ago are now coming home to roost. The unregulated free‑for‑all that allowed first the oligarchs, and then the venture capitalists, and then the state actors, to claim a piece of our turf. Players signed for ridiculous sums by sporting directors and owners who are now long gone. The decision to let the Super League breakaway clubs slide back into the competition with a paltry £3.7m fine for their trouble.
