Football is a ruthless business and nowhere is this better illustrated than in the transfer market, a carnival of capitalism that brings to mind a nature documentary not for the faint-hearted.
A club gets relegated and they are mercilessly stripped of all their best assets. A club experiences financial difficulties meanwhile and they instantly transform from a lion to a zebra, isolated and vulnerable to attack.
As they desperately try to get their house in order, more powerful beasts watch on, waiting to pounce for an easy pound of flesh.
It is primal and cruel, the only saving grave being that everybody is at it, building from a position of strength when possible and typically targeting clubs lower down the food-chain - or better yet, in financial strife - for a more straightforward kill.
With such extreme Darwinism so universal in the game it feels wrong to offer up a single example of this from a countless number of them, but in order to highlight a broader point, needs must.
Let’s then go with the most topical case, that of Manchester City’s current chase for Wolves’ Matheus Nunes.
The persistent favourites in the Premier League odds have long held a sincere interest in the player, that must be said, one that dates back to his Sporting days.
It should also be noted that City’s valuation of the Brazilian - rumoured to be slightly north of £60m - is fair indeed.
Yet would they have dared attempt to weaken Wolves were it not for the Black Country side’s severe FFP restrictions that have handicapped them so greatly this summer? Very probably not.
In normal circumstances, Wolves would simply hold firm, no doubt quoting a ridiculous price into the bargain.
But if City capitalising on a peer’s crisis is par for the course in football, as stated above, where we have a real problem is in the timing of their pursuit.
Because having been somewhat frustrated elsewhere during this window, the Blues have eventually turned their attentions to what they perceive to be a straightforward capture, and ‘eventually’ is the key word here as Nunes will likely depart Molineux just prior to the transfer window closing, a full three games into their season.
Is this fair? It absolutely is not, as it leaves an already struggling side with a Hobson’s Choice of options going forward, that of ploughing on until January minus arguably their best player.
Or to source a replacement very quickly, and affiliate him into their set-up with the season already up and running.
That the transfer deadline resides on September 1st has long been a bone of contention within football, which is why six years ago 14 out of the 20 Premier League clubs voted to have it moved back to early August, prior to a ball being kicked.
This made it fairer for all. It meant that when a season began, every club went with what they had, with no opportunity to plunder another club thereafter.
Only then the top six clubs started to feel vulnerable from August raids from abroad, with the European windows closing much later. Which is why just two years later, in 2020, the bigger clubs pushed for the deadline day to revert back to September 1st.
Few things better illuminate the nature of football than this. That the big clubs, who dominate the football betting, and have every advantage at their disposal, didn’t like the feeling of being vulnerable.
So they altered the rules to allow them to make others feel the same way, committing to in-season purchases as they saw fit.
It really is a ruthless business. And it’s not for the faint hearted.
*Credit for all of the photos in this article belongs to AP Photo*
