Due to Manuel Neuer’s injury, FC Bayern has to be active again on the transfer market.Image: dpa / Tom Weller
analysis
Not only football fans from all over the world sat in the stands at the World Cup in Qatar, but also numerous sports directors, squad planners and scouts who wanted to get a live impression of their (future) players.
Because just 14 days after the final whistle, the transfer market has been open again since January 1st. The time of wild speculation and rumors currently determines football events. Players can still change clubs until January 31st.
“There will be a flood of new contracts coming out in the first few days of January.”
Ex-Bundesliga Manager Michael Reschke
But this time the situation with the World Cup offers something special: the European teams still have more than half a season ahead of them. In England, the Premier League continued with the world-famous games on Boxing Day just eight days after the World Cup final.
The Bundesliga, on the other hand, doesn’t start until January 20th. Enough time for the teams to analyze their first 15 games of the season in detail, redefine goals and strengthen the team again.
“The upcoming transfer period and the time during the World Cup will be very busy. Because with the large number of games still to come, you can still correct the season and steer it in a new direction,” says Michael Reschke in an interview with watson.
The 65-year-old worked in the Bundesliga for FC Bayern, Bayer Leverkusen and VfB Suttgart as a squad planner, manager and head of sport. He is now “Head of European Football” at the player consultant agency ICM Stellar, one of the largest agencies in the world.
Michael Reschke was considered one of the best sports directors and managers in the Bundesliga. Image: www.imago-images.de / Oliver Ruhnke
Due to the long lead time from the season break in mid-November to the restart at the end of January, Reschke is certain: “In the first days of January there will be a flood of new contracts that will become public.”
But the former Bundesliga top manager does not see a direct connection with the tournament in Qatar. These changes would take place “regardless of what happens to the national players during the World Cup,” explains Reschke. The transition phase will have more of an impact on the players who are not in the tournament.
World Cup 2022: Almost all players are known to top European clubs
After all, almost all players at the World Cup are known to the club bosses.
And even with relatively unknown national teams from Asia, Africa or South America, club officials are rarely surprised. Because most of them are already under contract with top European teams.
There are also cases like that of James Rodriguez from time to time. The Colombian impressed at the 2014 World Cup and then joined Real Madrid from AS Monaco for €75m. But that is rather the exception.
James Rodriguez missed the 2022 World Cup with Colombia.Image: imago sport photo service / Frank Hoermann / SVEN SIMON
“There will also be a certain activity on the transfer market due to the World Cup, but the main movement is taking place away from the national players,” Michael Reschke makes clear.
If there were two or three players from the top nations Spain, France, Germany and England during the World Cup phase, “that would be a lot,” says the Rhinelander.
World Cup 2022: Bayern bosses actually ruled out winter transfers
And so the bosses of various Bundesliga clubs could be in the stands at the World Cup games and cause speculation.
There shouldn’t be a new signing in the new year, at least at FC Bayern. “We have no need for winter transfers at all”Bayern President Herbert Hainer made it clear even before the World Cup, despite numerous speculations.
“The World Cup is an exchange where scouts and sports directors are also on the move, but they build and maintain networks more and not to handle the big transfers,” Reschke explains the procedure on site.
But then Manuel Neuer got injured and Bayern are forced to act. Almost every day there are new updates and rumors about the occupation of the goalkeeper position. If there is a return campaign from Alexander Nübel, who has been loaned out, the record champions sign Gladbach’s Yann Sommer or ask goalkeepers who drew attention to themselves during the tournament, such as Croatia’s Livaković or Morocco’s Bono.
World Cup 2022 has little meaning for scouts
When looking for the next great talent or the future superstar, tournaments such as world or European championships are actually of little interest to the top clubs.
Because the actual search for talent begins much earlier. “The important tournaments are a U17 and U19 European Championship, a U20 Copa America and also the Copa America itself,” says Reschke.
There he also discovered Arturo Vidal during his time at Bayer Leverkusen together with today’s HSV sports director Jonas Boldt. The Chilean moved to Leverkusen in 2007 at the age of 20 and has become one of the best midfielders in the world. In 2015, Reschke brought him from Juventus Turin to FC Bayern.
“The world transfer market is transparent, so you’re rarely surprised. The chances of you signing a player from Qatar at the end of the tournament are slim. On the other hand, a player from Saudi Arabia could be good for a surprise transfer“, he sums up after the surprising opening victory of the Saudis over Argentina.
After a dramatic final, Argentina won the 2022 World Cup in Qatar (4-2 on penalties). After regulation time, it went into extra time and finally into a penalty shoot-out. Argentina’s goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez played a key role in the fact that it came to this. At the end of extra time, Argentina and France were tied 3-3.
