Why Mauricio Pochettino is Wrong to Criticize Shorter Transfer Window

 Mauricio Pochettino has had a quiet summer on the transfer front. Photograph: Paul Childs/Action Images via Reuters
Mauricio Pochettino has had a quiet summer on the transfer front. Photograph: Paul Childs/Action Images via Reuters
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Why Mauricio Pochettino is Wrong to Criticize Shorter Transfer Window

 Mauricio Pochettino has had a quiet summer on the transfer front. Photograph: Paul Childs/Action Images via Reuters
Mauricio Pochettino has had a quiet summer on the transfer front. Photograph: Paul Childs/Action Images via Reuters

The habitually genial Mauricio Pochettino has shown another side to his character of late. From suggesting the Tottenham project would continue “with me or another”, to urging his boss, Daniel Levy, to put his hands in his pockets, the Argentinian has taken to being more forthright in public. The object of his most recent remarks was also the one that has left him most irate: this summer’s shortened transfer window.

“If you compare with Europe, you are at a complete disadvantage and it does not help the clubs in the Premier League,” he said during Tottenham’s tour of the United States last week. “We are all in the same situation in England. I don’t know if the rest of the teams are happy with that decision. It’s not right. It’s not going to help the Premier League clubs because we’re going to compete in Europe and in the Champions League but have 20 days less. It’s not going to help.”

While there is no doubting Pochettino is not happy, is he right to be? Part of his frustration is surely specific to his own job. He knew the transfer window would close early, this Thursday 9 August at 5pm to be precise, before he signed a new five-year contract as Tottenham manager in May. But he had also hoped his club would be able to do their business early, before the World Cup. This was probably a triumph of hope over experience given the fact Spurs are short of funds owing to a new stadium which they have yet to pay for, and the poker that Levy traditionally likes to play in any transfer negotiation.

Tottenham are likely to have to sell players before they can buy this summer and no outgoings mean no incomings neither. Given past behaviour it would be unwise to rule out some frantic action on deadline day, Jack Grealish having a medical in a traffic jam on the M40 kind of thing, and the truncated deadline would have had nothing to do with it. The incentives at work are largely the same as ever. Yes, any money received from the continent after 9 August could not be used for any deals this summer but that is just as much of an encouragement for buying clubs to strike a deal beforehand, on terms possibly more advantageous to them.

Similar arguments apply when considering if Pochettino’s point might pertain more broadly. Are Premier League clubs leaving themselves at a disadvantage by shutting the window three weeks before everyone else? Well, on the most basic terms they are, as their continental rivals have more time to trade but 17 out of last season’s 20 Premier League clubs voted for the change and must have felt the disadvantage is outweighed by gains elsewhere.

The most obvious of these benefits is the fact of having decided their squad at the point the season kicks off. There will be fewer inexplicable injuries to unsettled players, no more waiting until after September’s international break before bedding a signing into the team. This was the argument made by clubs just a year ago and if Pochettino has forgotten it again he may be blinded by this summer’s other special circumstance. Spurs, alongside other members of the big six (though not Leicester, as José Mourinho observed waspishly of Manchester United’s opening opponents), have only just welcomed back many of their top players from holiday. This is because these players had a successful World Cup. While this may feel like another interrupted opening, it is really only a consequence of success.

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It is the big clubs whose foreign rivals could strengthen late and the big clubs whose players may not be ready for opening day. It is also only the big clubs whose players may be picked off by continental clubs in the weeks that remain of their window. The football food chain is such that the risk of poaching faced by smaller Premier League (never mind EFL) clubs comes only from the domestic market. It’s a stretch to say that even the bigger clubs face much threat from abroad.

Last season, according to the website Transfermarkt, Premier League clubs bought 150 players and sold 174. They did so at a combined loss of just under £755m. Only Serie A gets anywhere close to the Premier League in terms of spending but they make it back in sales almost entirely. When it comes to being able to strike big money deals the English top flight is way out on its own.

Big deals on the continent are often funded by Premier League largesse and when they are not, as might yet be the case with Thibaut Courtois, they are the exception. But even Real Madrid’s pursuit of Chelsea’s goalkeeper is not unusual. If Chelsea were rushed into signing Kepa Arrizabalaga for a world-record fee it is largely because Maurizio Sarri has just got his feet under the desk.

Having a whinge is a noble Premier League tradition and Pochettino will not be alone in doing so this year, in fact he will probably have another soon enough. Even if the top clubs in the world’s richest league were now at a disadvantage owing to their self-imposed deadline, it would not be easy to feel too sorry for them. But the truth is that, really, they are not.

The Guardian Sport



Cancelo Ruled Out of Al-Hilal’s Asian Champions League Semi with Al-Ahli 

Football - Saudi Pro League – Al-Hilal v Al-Shabab - Kingdom Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - April 21, 2025 Al-Hilal coach Jorge Jesus is seen during the match. (Reuters) 
Football - Saudi Pro League – Al-Hilal v Al-Shabab - Kingdom Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - April 21, 2025 Al-Hilal coach Jorge Jesus is seen during the match. (Reuters) 
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Cancelo Ruled Out of Al-Hilal’s Asian Champions League Semi with Al-Ahli 

Football - Saudi Pro League – Al-Hilal v Al-Shabab - Kingdom Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - April 21, 2025 Al-Hilal coach Jorge Jesus is seen during the match. (Reuters) 
Football - Saudi Pro League – Al-Hilal v Al-Shabab - Kingdom Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - April 21, 2025 Al-Hilal coach Jorge Jesus is seen during the match. (Reuters) 

Al-Hilal coach Jorge Jesus has ruled Joao Cancelo out of the remainder of his side's Asian Champions League Elite campaign with a hamstring injury ahead of their all-Saudi Pro League semi-final against Al-Ahli in Jeddah on Tuesday.

The former Manchester City and Barcelona defender limped off 42 minutes into Al-Hilal's 7-0 thrashing of South Korea's Gwangju on Friday and Jesus confirmed the 30-year-old would play no further part in the continental championship.

"The only negative part of an excellent night was the injury to Joao Cancelo," said Jesus. "He's one of the players who is very important for the team for his attacking ability.

"We will not have him. He will be out for four to six weeks, that means his season is practically over, but he will be well prepared for our participation in the Club World Cup."

Al-Hilal remain on track for a record-extending fifth Asian title but face a difficult challenge against an Al-Ahli side that is the only undefeated team left in the competition.

The clubs have already met three times this season in domestic competition, with Al-Ahli winning the most recent encounter in the Saudi Pro League thanks to a hat-trick by England striker Ivan Toney.

That win was coach Matthias Jaissle's first against Al-Hilal in five attempts and the German is confident his side can repeat the feat.

"It helps definitely to know, to feel that we are capable to win against Al-Hilal," said Jaissle.

"We've played against Al-Hilal so often and they have huge quality in their squad, but we're well prepared. We know exactly what will come tomorrow, there will be no surprises on the pitch. Details will be decisive."

The semi-final will be played at Al-Ahli's home at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium and Jaissle is hoping the support of the local fans will be a factor in deciding the outcome.

"The results in the matches since the competition started show clearly that this competition fits us," he said. "But we didn't achieve anything so far.

"Everything has to fit together, all the details in all phases of the game. Then you need sometimes a bit of luck and the extra energy of the fans."