Goalkeepers at a Premium in Slow Market
Financial Fair Play and the global Economy. That is what caused clubs to spend much less than last year during the January transfer window, according to Deloitte.
The huge decrease in spending is likely to continue, financial advisors suggest, and in soccer this means more emphasis will be placed on loans and short term deals. No more massive pay outs, in January at least, because if clubs do not pass muster with the analysts in 2013, passing a ‘break-even’ test, huge fines and point deductions could be siphoned off of clubs.
The type of player signed could also change.
What UEFA boss Michel Platini is hoping is that more home grown players will be promoted through youth ranks so that money is saved. The short term reality is different, though. As Raphael Honigstein points out, in England at least, local players that are any good rocket in value. They are few and far between and so are sold for market betraying prices.
This is why the last window saw strikers signed from clubs abroad where they were out of favor or ‘experienced’ players like Louis Saha were coaxed across towns for pittance. It is cheaper to buy those a little longer in the tooth and loaning an out of favor foreign player to slot directly into the team is a sure sight more realistic than trying to loan a promising home based player from a rival. They will be priced out for someone who has a future, but is untested.
There is of course one position on the park where experience drives up the price, rather than letting it drip down.
Goalkeepers were not sought on loan during this window because teams only want the best between the posts and if someone has proven themselves they will be worth more, regardless of nationality. You can gamble with one additional average striker, but it is too costly to gamble with an average goalkeeper between the sticks. Like a QB or a left tackle in Football; a stand-off or a tight head in rugby; goalkeepers are the most valuable players in soccer, bar the goalscorers.
Goalkeepers worth throwing into your team cost money. They have to be proven to be signed during a window. Your team has to rely on them at the back. So even though some teams may be struggling with their ‘keeper, they will not replace them during the most frantic market opening of the season. Good goalkeepers take time to work on. If you are desperate you better be prepared to pay for it.
In Soccer’s austere times it must be great to be a goalkeeping coach, at least. Demand for you will be pretty high…
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