Never backwards in coming forwards with his ideas on how to improve the game, Arsene Wenger has a very definite stance on the winter transfer window.
According to an interview published in the Daily Mirror, the former Arsenal manager, who is now head of global development for FIFA, wants it scrapped completely.
Although such a view could be seen to be extreme, the urbane Frenchman had a very good reason for espousing it.
Talking about the potential financial impact on football after the coronavirus pandemic, and football more generally, he said; “I am for the abolition of the January transfer window. Managers don’t deal with this second window well.
“In October, as soon as a player does not play anymore, he tries to find a solution elsewhere and waits for January to leave. He is no longer mobilised, he gives up.”
It’s certainly an interesting viewpoint, and we can be assured that someone as scholarly as Wenger has thought through the ramifications of making such a statement before doing so.
A man who always appears to choose his words wisely, whenever he speaks, those within the game are compelled to listen.
Whether this particular suggestion has legs or not, we’ll see in due course, but it shouldn’t simply be dismissed out of hand without first being given due consideration.