Bundesliga change: What an annoying transfer summer (opinion)

Opinion

When this text appears, the Bundesliga transfer period is finally over. Deadline day, 6 p.m., nothing works anymore. The ink is dry, the long-awaited reinforcement is dry and the last contract has been sent by fax – or not. A summer without club football used to be the most relaxed time in the life of every fan. Today it feels like small talk you never wanted to be part of – annoying, exhausting and tedious.

I am aware that opinions on the tiled living room tables in football Germany differ widely here. For many a “Football Manager” fanatic, the relatively manageable phase between July 1st and September 1st is the most exciting of the year. The triumph or disgrace of the past season has been overcome emotionally, the table is at zero and every rumor, no matter how small, about a new beacon of hope makes the heart beat a little faster. “Who is changing to whom?”, “How much transfer fee was paid?” and “Who slept in which duvet as a child?”

The transfer business

Several media have taken advantage of this hope. For several years now, the Italian blogger and journalist Fabrizio Romano has been using the short message service X, formerly Twitter, to inform his 18.5 million followers about even the smallest twist in a player transfer. It seems that not a single rumor escapes his eyes. What he reports is taken for granted. His confirmation phrase “Here we go” as sure as Amen in church. With his form of reporting, Romano has changed sports journalism forever.

In Germany, the pay-TV provider Sky has structured an entire program based on this principle. Rumours, updates and probabilities are as hotly traded on “Transfer Update – The Show” as stock market information is on the Wall Street trading floor. The show’s driving force is moderator and expert Florian Plettenberg aka PlettiGoal. At least 250,000 people follow him on Twitter.

In his program and on his social media channels, Plettenberg provides information every five to ten minutes about the club’s player profiles, disputes in the dressing room or the consultants’ desired clubs. Long gone are the days when a dream player was presented at the target club’s press conference or you read his name for the first time in the pre-season kicker special.

Transfer journalists are often so well informed that even experienced coaches like Thomas Tuchel get scared. False reports and ducks still occur, but are becoming increasingly rare. The information that has been put through has become an important bargaining chip in negotiations for consultant agencies, players and clubs. Those who master the narrative usually emerge as the winners of the transfer.

Harry Pain: An Eternal Saga of the Obvious

This small-scale and sometimes normative reporting culminated in the admittedly very changeable negotiations between FC Bayern and Tottenham about the transfer of English star striker Harry Kane. The long exchange led Florian Plettenberg to publicly tell Tottenham President Daniel Levy to finally accept the offer. “It’s not progressing and it’s getting annoying. It’s annoying even me,” he shouted into the camera at the time – less than two months after the management floors of two of the largest football clubs in the world had started, one of the best about the 100 million euro transfer Debate Premier League players. When the Kane deal finally came about shortly before the Supercup, Plettenberg struggled with his emotions in front of the camera. Harry Kane hadn’t played a single minute for Bayern at the time and was still training in London.

The Kane debate is emblematic of the development of sports journalism. Every interim status, no matter how small, is inflated into such a big message, until it really seems as if you are sitting at the negotiating table. 80 million + possible bonuses – declined. 90 million? Still not enough. And when the two clubs finally agree, the player still has a say. Pretty normal process, actually, but after 23 consecutive breaking news stories, it feels like Tottenham really need to take the damn thing!1!1!

Another situation in the Bundesliga

This transfer summer was not only particularly exhausting because of the reporting. The clubs have also done everything they can to ensure that the new season starts with as little euphoria as possible. While FC Bayern has had a reputation for ruining the league for decades, the well-loved BVB with Niclas Füllkrug, Ramy Bensebaini and Felix Nmecha just bought a solid part of last year’s “eleven of the season” within a few weeks. Despite all proven controversies and missteps of the king transfer. There will be someone else in the squad who is good as a role model and role model.

Meanwhile, the league king from Munich is investing 220 million for Kane, Kim and Palhinha, cementing his status as usual. If the newly formed Bayer Leverkusen or Union Berlin, which is filled with old stars, does not miraculously manage to continue their success story, it will probably end in a one-sided duel at the top and the twelfth Munich championship in a row.

Mbappé and the immoral offer from Saudi Arabia

The biggest thorn in the eyes of European fans was probably the numerous departures to Saudi Arabia. While established Bundesliga clubs struggle with six-figure rental fees, the clubs in the Saudi Professional League throw endless monetary resources around until the players finally agree. Ronaldo, Benzema, Kante, Neymar and even the socially committed Jordan Henderson sooner or later succumbed to the lure of money. You can already marvel at their jerseys in the same shopping streets of medium-sized German cities.

According to media reports, the French superstar Kylian Mbappé was even offered a fee of 700 million euros for a single season at Al-Hilal. However, he is said to have agreed with Real Madrid for the third year in a row about a change next summer. Even if football professionals like Mbappé and Toni Kroos or Uefa President Aleksander Ceferin resist the influence of Saudi Arabia, the clubs have little choice when an offer of twice the actual market value of the player flies in. And so it seems as if the spook of the transfer summer is not over yet. The transfer window in Saudi Arabia does not close until September 20th.