Admittedly I saw this as someone else's comment on a Daily Mail Modric article, so I accept none of the credit for the idea, but it got me intrigued. What if a rule was introduced where players could only be signed from another club if they have 2 years or less remaining on their contract? Pros: The balance of power would be shifted away from players and back towards clubs. Players could no longer sign a long-term, lucrative deal with a club and then force a transfer a year later. The truly loyal players would be separated from those only claiming to be - fans would have more players they could call heroes (such as our Ledders). Potentially, transfer fees could stop being so extortionate - the selling club would know that if they didn't accept a deal now, the player could walk away for less as their contract gets closer to its end. This does, however, cause the first con below. Cons: Although the potentially lower transfer fees would be a pro, the fact that the buying club would have power over the selling club is clearly wrong. The buying club could keep lowering their offer as time went on, and the selling club would have less negotiation as they run the risk of a player leaving for free. Promising youngsters would be reluctant to sign permanent/long-term deals with their clubs, in the hope that one of the bigger teams would come sniffing for them. Obviously it would never happen, and if it did, offering players 2-year deals would probably become the norm. But do you think its potential advantages would be outweighed by these negatives?
Not sure whether this would be allowed by normal competition rules: it would be a 'restraint on trade'. It is also very difficult to judge the effect - this sort of rule always has unintended consequences. I'm perfectly happy with the current arrangements really - they give a reasonable balance in general despite some irritating features. I will go back to my old hobby-horse though - I do wish football managers would spend more time getting the best out of their current squad rather than all this wheeling and dealing. Clearly rich clubs will always want to improve their squads and the transfer market is an important way of getting trickle down to smaller clubs but I can't believe that buying and selling a quarter of your squad each year is necessary or good - and we've often been close to that.
