The Transfer Window is open! …What does that mean?

Alright my fine American friends, the Transfer Window is open and, directly, there will be some Hot Links to help you sift through what has already transpired.

We’re used to free agency, the trade deadline, what used to be the second trade deadline (hello, Justin Verlander), and the normal ebbs and flows of business in sports. The Transfer Window is all of that compressed into a couple of months twice a year.

Put briefly, the Transfer Window is when a player can join a new team. Rather than trading players (though it does occasionally happen), the acquiring team will negotiate a transfer fee with the team who has the player under contract for that player’s services. Then they pay the player. In short: Team A pays Team B for Player X, then pays Player X.

A loan move is also often negotiated during the Transfer Window(s). Maybe you’re a club who places a high value on, essentially, a prospect, but they’re not going to help your main team this year. Rather than let them sit the bench for a season, you can send them out on loan to a team in a lower league or a different country altogether to let them get playing time. You can also see this happen when a club hates one of their current players (see: Manchester United and Sancho, Jadon). Maybe no one wants to buy that player, but they’re willing to take on some of their salary, and the player gets out of the Club’s way.

This summer, there are two transfer windows: From today until June 10, and from June 16-September 1. This is due to the Club World Cup starting on June 14, so players can join participating teams before it starts. The main Transfer Window doesn’t close until the new seasons across European Soccer have already started. There is also a January Transfer Window where teams can bolster their squads for the final push, though major deals are more rare here because the prices are so high (if you have a Badass on your team, and you’re going nowhere, and Arsenal - who of course is in 2nd Place - want that player, you can charge them an arm and a leg knowing that they’re trying to win a title.).

Of course there’s the inequality/wealth gap of the whole thing. Leeds United were just promoted and have new-ish ownership in 49ers Enterprises, and will get a massive revenue boost from just being in the Premier League. They’re looking at spending £110-£150 million this summer to bolster their team in order to stay in the Premier League. Liverpool just spent £130 million on Florian Wirtz…like, just the one guy.

So let’s see how creative they can get in the next ten days…and then again for a couple of months 15 days from now.