The Weekly Take, Issue 21: Flying Under the Radar

The transfer window is now in full swing, and several notable transfers have already taken place.

Some of the most notable players to have changed clubs thus far include Jorginho, who has left Napoli for Chelsea; Gianluigi Buffon, who went from Juventus to Paris Saint-Germain; Riyad Mahrez, who finally maded his long-anticipated move from Leicester to Manchester City; and of course, Cristiano Ronaldo, whose transfer from Real Madrid to Juventus stunned the football world and even managed to temporarily take its focus away from the World Cup.

However, on many an occasion, it has not been the blockbuster transfers that have had the most impact on the season to come, but rather, the transfers that were initially greeted by little fanfare, but subsequently turned out to change the course of the season, and sometimes multiple seasons thereafter as well.

For example, during last off-season’s transfer window, the most talked-about transfers that hogged all the attention included the following: Álvaro Morata leaving Real Madrid for Chelsea, Romelu Lukaku’s transfer from Everton to Manchester United, and of course, Neymar’s record-breaking move from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain, which, as far as the transfer market itself is concerned, fundamentally altered the transfer market forever.

However, in terms of the impact a signing made on his new team, by far the most impactful signing of the transfer window was that of Mohamed Salah, who left Roma to join Liverpool in a move that was largely overlooked by many.

Salah went on to prove the folly of those who underestimated him by playing an incredible season marked by his scoring 32 league goals, leading Liverpool to the Champions League final, and winning a bevy of individual awards, including Premier League Player of the Season, PFA Players’ Player of the Year, FWA Footballer of the Year, and African Footballer of the Year.

On the other hand, Morata’s season was so poor that he missed Spain’s World Cup squad, Neymar missed a large portion of the season with a foot injury, and while Lukaku did have a solid season, it was nowhere near the level of Salah’s.

This phenomenon has occurred before.

In the mid-season transfer window of 2011, several transfers which generated tremendous amounts of hype were made. Chief among them were the signings of Fernando Torres and Andy Carroll, who moved from Liverpool to Chelsea and Newcastle to Liverpool respectively. The immense buzz that accompanied these transfers caused Manchester City’s signing of Edin Džeko from Wolfsburg to be overshadowed.

However, circumstances would play out in the exact opposite manner that one would expect, given how much hype each of these signings received.

Neither Torres nor Carroll ever really adapted well to life at their new clubs, and both soon entered a terminal decline. On the other hand, throughout his tenure at City, Džeko was a key contributor, scoring 50 league goals and helping City win two league titles before departing for Roma in 2015. Džeko scored more goals over this period than Torres and Carroll combined.

Several of the world’s best players today were once under-the-radar signings as well. Not many had heard of N’Golo Kanté in 2015, Diego Costa in 2010, or Mats Hummels in 2009; however, all three went on to make major contributions to their new clubs: Leicester, Atlético Madrid, and Borussia Dortmund respectively.

It takes a shrewd team to figure out which players who have been slept on and overlooked are ready to make the jump and become a key contributor on a top team. Many under-the-radar signings who succeed and make significant impacts were selected based on careful scouting, thorough evaluation, and knowledge about how they would fit into their new team.

Conversely, in the examples already provided about hyped transfers of players who never quite reached the expected levels, the clubs who signed these players went directly for the “star names” without considering the context, or how each player would fit into the team.

As the transfer window carries on, there will surely be more big-name transfers to come which will attract all the headlines. However, do not overlook supposedly “lesser” signings, because some team out there might have just unearthed a true gem who turns out to be the missing piece they needed all along.

The Weekly Take, Issue 20: Post-World Cup Special: That’s It for the World Cup – Now What?

It has been a gripping, enthralling month of World Cup action, culminating in France’s 4-2 victory over Croatia in the final to give Les Bleus their second World Cup title and first since 1998.

However, lost in the shuffle of everything that has gone on during this World Cup is this: what impact is this World Cup going to have on the players as they prepare for the upcoming European club football season?

Some players in this World Cup have seen their stock soar, while others have seen theirs collapse.

One of the more interesting points to be discussed in the wake of the World Cup is this: what is going to happen at Paris Saint-Germain this season?

During the World Cup, PSG’s two superstars, Kylian Mbappé and Neymar, had very different experiences.

Mbappé was the breakout superstar of the tournament, emerging as one of the world’s best players, even at the age of 19. He scored four goals and was arguably France’s best player during their run to the title.

On the other hand, Neymar’s Brazil team were knocked out in the quarterfinals, and Neymar himself became an object of scorn and ridicule because of his overreactions during matches, especially when he was fouled.

Taking these factors into consideration, as well as the fact that prior to the World Cup, Neymar had been the focal point of PSG’s team, it will be interesting to see if Neymar will be willing to take more of a backseat to accommodate his younger teammate, or if Mbappé’s growing stature will lead to discord between the two, which would then potentially derail the Paris club’s season.

Given Neymar’s personality, as well as the fact that he left Barcelona to become the best player on a team, the latter scenario is a distinct possibility.

Another point which remains to be seen is the question of which previously-overlooked players have earned a move to a bigger club through their World Cup performances.

Among the players who rose to global prominence during the World Cup include Villarreal winger Denis Cheryshev (Russia), Stuttgart full-back Benjamin Pavard (France), Beşiktaş centre-back Domagoj Vida (Croatia), and Leicester centre-back Harry Maguire (England).

Do not be surprised if, on the back of their strong World Cup campaigns, one or more of these players end of signing for a major European club during this ongoing transfer window.

In the past, players have used the World Cup as a springboard to take their career to the next level, and these players have the opportunity to do just that.

The World Cup also certainly had an impact on the race for the Ballon d’Or.

Every year since 2008, the award has been won by either Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi. However, this year, that may change because of the fact that neither Ronaldo’s Portugal nor Messi’s Argentina were all that impressive during the tournament, as both teams were knocked out in the round of 16.

That may open the door for the likes of Mbappé, his French teammate Antoine Griezmann, tournament MVP Luka Modrić, or perhaps a fringe contender, such as Harry Kane or Kevin De Bruyne, to possibly come through and break Ronaldo and Messi’s stranglehold on football’s most prestigious individual honour.

On a related note, it also remains to be seen how players from countries such as Spain, Germany, and Argentina will respond to their World Cup failures.

These countries are all powerhouses of world football, but all three were knocked out of the World Cup early. Therefore, there are two possibilities as to what mindset their players will enter the club season with: either they will go in with a chip on their shoulder and take out their World Cup frustrations on opposing teams, or their failure at the World Cup will continue to weigh heavily on their minds, thus negatively affecting their level of play for their clubs.

All of these factors which the World Cup has influenced, as well as the fact that the transfer window still has over a month to run, lead to one conclusion: get ready for a truly enthralling 2018-19 season of European club football that will hopefully rival the World Cup in terms of sheer excitement and intensity.