PSG, the new Man City in Europe
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (centre) poses with his jersey next to the club chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi (left)—AFP
The vagaries and frustrations after the season, also known as the transfer window, are upon us yet again. It seemed like yesterday when young Cesc Fabregas called out to his alma mater, when Luka Modric said yes, yes, yes to Chelsea and Harry Redknapp, while on the phone to 25 other players, said no, no, definitely not.
There were relatively lesser eye popping transfers after the spectacle that was the Andy Carrol and Fernando Torres moves but this year we already have Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva moving from AC Milan to Paris Saint-Germain, leaving a cash strapped, desperate club and joining one with coffers full of oil money and with ambitions matching their counterparts Manchester City.
Newcastle bid for their former striker Carroll deserves a snicker or two. Liverpool, on their part, are behind Clint Dempsey as they hope to secure their mid-table status while Tottenham have done a good bit of business getting in the talented Gylfi Sigurdsson. Other notable transfers include Lukas Podolski and Oliver Giroud moving to Arsenal, Marko Marin and Eden Hazard to Chelsea, Shinji Kagawa to Man United, Jan Vertonghen to Spurs and Ji-Sung Park to QPR.
The transfer window can bring out the worst, both in disgruntled, success hungry fans, and in fickle, money-minded players. The concept of loyalty as it might have been a few decades ago has ceased to exist, although one does wonder if Bobby Charlton or George Best would have been the same great players if they had been switching clubs at the first sight of a few extra dollars.
The foresightedness and keen sense of belonging has been replaced by a self serving, more corporate approach. The transfer window is alive, kicking, screaming, ranting and raving.
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