Ever since the coronavirus pandemic shut down global football, there’s been a prevalent school of thought that believes this upcoming summer transfer window will be scaled down. With COVID-19 shutting down operations, the smaller clubs are in real danger of continuing to exist.
The middle sized clubs are feeling the financial pinch while the big clubs may see it in their best interest not to spend big. That’s because splashing the cash could inspire a backlash, and the negative PR may not be worth it. COVID-19 has totally shut down leading economies worldwide, and a global financial depression is very plausible. The ripple effects from this period of absolutely essential spending could be felt for years, and thus Manchester United Chief Executive Ed Woodward believes it won’t be “business as usual.”
He thinks the days of £100 million transfers will be put on hold for the time being.
“Nobody should be under any illusions about the scale of challenge facing everyone in football and it may not be ‘business as usual’ for any clubs, including ourselves, in the transfer market this summer,” said Woodward.
“As ever our priority is the success of the team, but we need visibility of the impact across the whole industry, including timings of the transfer window, and the wider financial picture, before we can talk about a return to normality.
“On this basis, I cannot help feeling that speculation around transfers of individual players for hundreds of millions of pounds this summer seems to ignore the realities that face the sport.”
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The top target linked to United this spring is Borussia Dortmund winger Jadon Sancho, a player that could easily cost the club 100 million pounds. However, if all clubs will be tightening the purse strings this summer, then the market value for all players will come down.
United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has previously said that United will be in a position to exploit this transfer window, and he is right to an extent. However, Woodward is literally an investment banker, and his outlook is probably the one that will prove to be more prophetic.
And while United certainly won’t be hurting for money any time soon, with almost everyone worried about the future of their finances and corporations seeing their bottom line get hit, eventually, it could reach even Old Trafford.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly contributes to WGN TV, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Now and SB Nation.
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