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Strangely silent Big deals have been few so far this summer
Posted: Wednesday July 05, 2000 08:37 AM
Notice something strange in European soccer? It's July and the big boys have been sitting on the sidelines. Ordinarily, by this time you would expect major signings, big-money transfers and expectations higher than Jim Morrison on a bad night. Instead, many of the continent's biggest clubs have been strangely silent. In Spain, Barcelona and Real Madrid have been largely sitting on their hands, while the champion, Deportivo La Coruna hasn't done much better. Barca has acquired goalkeeper Richard Dutruel (from Celta), Real Madrid picked up winger Santiago Solari and utility man Albert Celades, while Deportivo bought veteran Brazilian Cesar Sampaio and the tricky Pedro Duscher. Hardly anything to get the pulse racing. Dutruel is a fine goalkeeper and an improvement over Ruud Hesp, but not exactly the second coming of Peter Schmeichel. Neither Celades nor Solari are likely to start, while Duscher still has a lot to prove and Cesar Sampaio isn't getting any younger. Serie A has followed a similar path, with two glaring exceptions. The Roman clubs have once again busted the bank. Lazio acquired goalkeeper Angelo Peruzzi (from Inter), Claudio Lopez (from Valencia) and is very close to Parma's Hernan Crespo, while Roma picked up defender Walter Samuel, midfielder Emerson and, of course, Gabriel Batistuta (for a hefty US$40 million). Beyond that, Serie A hasn't offered much excitement. AC Milan claims to be happy with its current squad, Inter bought midfielder Francisco Farinos and Juventus lured David Trezeguet from Monaco. Both Farinos and Trezeguet seem destined for the bench (at least initially). While they are young and promising, it's unlikely they'll have an immediate impact. It's a similar story in England. Manchester United earmarked Fabien Barthez for the number one spot, but, despite the Ruud Van Nistelrooy fiasco, hasn't really felt the need to strengthen the squad. Arsenal secured Lauren to patrol the right flank, Leeds United is close to Mark Viduka, Chelsea spent big on Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Mario Stanic, but beyond that, there hasn't been too much going on. According to some estimates, by this time last year, top division clubs had spent three times as much money as they did this summer. Why? Some clubs have a good excuse. For starters, count Barcelona out, at least for the time being. The club doesn't have a chairman, much less a manager, which makes buying players nearly impossible. Real Madrid is also without a chairman, at least for a couple of weeks, when the members' vote is tallied. Juventus has one of the most settled lineups around. It will make a move if it can get a good deal ( Patrick Vieira? ), but it isn't going to get caught up in any bidding wars. Trezeguet was a smart pick-up who may or may not work out, but he'll be given lots of time to develop behind Alex Del Piero, Pippo Inzaghi and Darko Kovacevic. Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson is of a similar mindset. He had one position to strengthen and he did so with Barthez, beyond that, he's happy with what he has. But it's harder to understand the attitude of other clubs. Inter Milan is a mess, in every sense of the word, while Arsenal, Chelsea and AC Milan still have a way to go before they can challenge for the title. So why has the silence been deafening? One explanation could be that the pipeline has, to some degree, dried up. Clubs will still spend big, but they'll do it with an eye to the bottom line. Here's a totally (not really) fictitious example: Real Madrid would love to buy Savo Milosevic from Zaragoza. Say the asking price is US $35 million. The club could spend that much, but only if it makes back by selling other players ( Nicolas Anelka, Elvir Balic ). Those two combined are easily worth US $35 million, but Real can't take a chance on buying Milosevic without first selling the other two. The problem is that the clubs who want to buy them are facing the same exact problem. They don't want to shell out the cash until they know they can make some money back from the sale of their own players. The most obvious example is in Italy, where the Trezeguet and Crespo deals could have a "musical chair" effect on Serie A, with the likes of Vincenzo Montella, Pippo Inzaghi and Oliver Bierhoff could all be changing clubs. Barcelona's impeding Dutch exodus (not too many of Louis Van Gaal's protégés are going to want to stick around) should have a similar effect. For the time being however, it's a stalemate, with everyone eyeing each other suspiciously. When things do get moving, the action should be fast and furious.
London-based Gabriele Marcotti writes a weekly column on international soccer for CNNSI.com. To submit questions or comments to Gabriele Marcotti, click here.
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