As today is transder deadline day i was thinking about the old days when we didnt have transfer windows. In a way i quite liked the old days when you could buy and sell anytime you wanted.

I think part of the reason that prices have gone through the roof is because panic buys and not having enough time to get the deals done.

Do you think that things were better before the windows came in or are better now? Do you think the windows have had an effect on the rise in prices?

I realise that prices would have rised anyway but i dont think they would have gone up as high as they are now.

Take the Torres deal for example, if we didnt have that transfer window then maybe we could have got him for a smaller price.

 

Just looking for somewhere to put this, thought this is a good place.

Looks like Jan 2014 is going to be a new record, and I think the summer window coming up will smash the £630m record from last season because of new Sky/BT TV money.

Edited January 31, 201412 yr by coco

Well, technically, you can still buy and sell players anytime so I don't buy into the whole "not enough time to get deals done" thing. The restriction only applies to when the player can play for the club. 

 

From my understanding it was brought in to prevent players from being unsettled all year round. Can you imagine the effect it would have had on Bale's performance had there been talks going for a whole year while he was still playing for Spurs? Things like this could even be done with no intention of actually buying the player, just to disrupt him and the club. 

 

It also discourage teams from spending their way out of trouble. Increases in prices are a natural part of supply and demand, there would be a lot more panic buys if there were no windows. The moment a team got into a bad run of form they would start throwing money at any player, Arsenal getting thrashed by United 8-2 comes to mind. 

I agree, the January window definitely encourages panic buys. There's no way we would've gotten as much for Mata during the upcoming summer if he hadn't increased his role during the spring. United were desperate and wouldn't be able to do anything to save the season after this week.

That said, I do like the window. Desperate teams get more desperate, and comfortable teams can be more frugal and tweak what they need for the run-in. I think we did a great bit of business addressing our needs the last couple of weeks. Plus, there is a bit of excitement following deadline day all day long.