‘Dates of transfer windows should be changed’, says Italian agent Giovanni Branchini
A few days ago, Paul Pogba’s agent Mino Raiola told Italian media that he thinks dates of transfer windows should be changed. Raiola is not the only personality in football to be unhappy with the current rules of transfers. Calciomercato.com has exclusively talked with Giovanni Branchini, an Italian players’ agent and middleman. Branchini was the agent of some of the finest players to have ever played in Serie A, the most popular of them is definitely Ronaldo.
Branchini, would you change the dates of the transfer windows?
“It would be a logical choice. Everyone agrees that the current dates are wrong.”
Why?
“Most of times we hear presidents and coaches talking about projects, but just think about how many problems a manager has when he has to build the team in summer. If one benches a player for two successive friendlies, the player asks to leave the club. If the market was close, the player would be forced to work hard and try to improve.”
How would you change rules of negotiations?
“Single football federations always inform the FIFA about the dates of the transfer windows. The first one can’t be longer than 12 weeks and has to begin before a new campaign starts. This, however, doesn’t happen and negotiations are close when campaigns are still on. Even if the summer transfer window opens on the 1st of July, negotiations are ongoing from the beginning of May. The winter transfer window can last for a maximum of four weeks.”
Why all federations do chose the same dates?
“This is happening since the ECA was founded. The ECA represents the five best leagues in Europe: Italy, Spain, England, Germany and France. They all follow the same logic, but any football association could decide to change their dates.”
When would you open and when would you close the summer transfer window?
“I’d open it in May, after the end of all competitions, until the 1st of July, so each manager could work with their final team for the rest of the season and there won’t be problems with lack of time for last-minute transfers. They’d be less tempted to make gambles with a big deal in the deadline day.”
Why haven’t rules been changed yet?
“Because there are 7-8 clubs which are reached than the others and they want to have a chance until the 31st of August. But there could be a solution to this issue as well.”
Which one?
“Each club could have two ‘jollies’. They would be able to sign a maximum of two players when the transfer window is not open. They could do it if they qualify to Champions League of if any of their player suffer a serious injury during the season. Those jolly could only be used until the 31st of May.”
So you agree with Raiola...
“I was glad to hear his words last night. He’s a smart and experienced agent. A few years ago he was hitting out at Blatter while I was still talking to lawyers trying to change rules of football. He was right, wasting time was just useless . Now we agree on this issue: the transfer market must change its dates.”
@SteAgresti
