If a new player appears in this country for the mandatory medical check before the contract is signed, the clubs often turn it into a secret commando operation. On the way to the practice, he is hidden in the car in case there is a photographer lurking behind the tree. A camera team in front of the door creates an alarm mood – who revealed the date?
Of course, when Juventus Turin arranged the investigation for top scorer Dusan Vlahovic, they didn’t forget to erect barriers for the waiting fans and to create space for the television people. Vlahovic, 22 (previously: Fiorentina), then got out of a limousine from the Agnelli family’s factory in a dark suit and signed autographs before he went to the doctor’s office. The change costs 70 million euros, but Juve knows what it owes the people and it’s less about Vlahovic’s goals and more about prestige.
the Football Market, the football market, is a national treasure in Italy and is as much a part of football as the lawn, the scoreboard and the tea break. The shop is also exhibited as a sporting event, it is part of the show. Only the English celebrate trading on the closing day of the stock exchange – in Germany Deadline Day called – even more opulent. Apparently with regard to the dramaturgy of the special programs and live reports, the clubs in the Premier League have agreed not to do most of their business in the four weeks since the market opened, but only on the last day. Audiences love absurd episodes of players en route to club X being steered at the last moment by their agent to club Y, which offers even more. Or legends of managers who fixed three million deals at once shortly before the deadline.
There is a lot going on in Wolfsburg: Will goalscorer Weghorst go after Mehmedi and Ginczek? And is Max Kruse really coming?
So whether Tottenham Hotspur will be able to take over Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur from Juventus Turin for 60 million euros by Monday, 11:59 p.m. after it didn’t work out for the same money with Luis Diaz from FC Porto because Liverpool FC intervened ? The fans will see it live.
In this country, the winter transfer market is as amusing as winter itself. Its color is grey, the most industrious player is VfL Wolfsburg, who are apparently driven by fears. The fact that the club gave up the strikers Admir Mehmedi (Antalyaspor) and Daniel Ginczek (Fortuna Düsseldorf) surprised many – but only because many did not know that the two still belonged to VfL. Striker Wout Weghorst is also likely to make a move and both sides seem happy about that, although both sides had hoped for a fancier buyer than bottom-placed English side Burnley. VfL procured replacements in the USA (Kevin Paredes, 18), scouted in Denmark (Jonas Wind, 22) – and rediscovered in Berlin: the VW club is spending a few extra millions for the return of Max Kruse. Otherwise he balances the investments with the proceeds for Weghorst and other savings – ex-captain Josuha Guilavogui moves to Bordeaux.
Even in Wolfsburg, generous shopping went out of fashion during the Corona crisis, not to mention the rest of the Bundesliga. Lending deals characterize the few activities – a deal like the immediate transfer of Iranian national striker Sardar Azmoun, 27, from Saint Petersburg to Bayer Leverkusen, which was announced on Sunday, stands out. First of all, the trade for the summer was agreed as a free transfer.
While the stadiums in England were always open and are reopening in other countries, they remain largely empty in Germany, and the treasurers count the losses in the millions match day after match day. They justifiably do not feel responsible for the transfer market fun of the fans.
