These are strange days. Christmas always is. There is a curious mix between whirlwind and reflection, between last minute purchases and a sudden need to take stock. We hurry through the days of December and use the symbolism of the change of number, from 4 to 5, to try to shelve what we don’t quite like and fill ourselves with good resolutions. It seems like a good time for that definitive push towards a new horizon, as if starting in January everything would radically change. The new year sounds like a reset. To reboot.
And it’s curious because we don’t operate by calendar year, actually. Ours is more to move at the school pace, dedicated to the school periods from September to June. Until a few years ago, football was that. You planned your season, presented your signings in the summer and defined objectives for the course. The winter market was almost anecdotal and, come January, no major revolutions were expected.
It was not easy to find good players in the middle of the season either. It gave the feeling that the interesting part had already been taken and that only the discards remained, with the fear of not being able to adapt in five months to a player who arrived frustrated and without rhythm.
We are not in those times, anymore. The winter window is an extra life for those who have planned poorly and a bonus track for the most selective squads. It is a patch for those who are in bad dynamics and an opportunity to purge locker rooms and maintain a certain well-being in the groups.
The difficult thing is to choose well. No rush. It is neither an invisible friend nor a carrying a package for the sake of carrying. We must carefully review the offers and move on to what is necessary, which ideally we should have analyzed in a calm climate beforehand. There will be transfers that have been talked about for weeks and that seem like a win-win, both for the clubs and the players. There will be botches and there may be some bombings.
There has been more than one around this time. Real turning points. Twenty years ago, in 2004, Edgar Davids left Juve on loan to save Rijkaard’s Barça, which was wandering in the middle of the table. The coach’s chair was shaking, but he found stability with the arrival of the Dutch midfielder. His compatriot. His former partner. Davids, with his glasses and his ponytail, cut everything that could be cut and revitalized a team that finished runners-up. He was a true lifesaver who rescued a project on which many of Barça’s current successes were later built.
The January signings are needs, they are emergencies and they are whims. City had him with Aymeric Laporte and pulled his checkbook in 2018 to get him out of Athletic and take him to England. This January is a market with little room for maneuver for those who lose talent, who see how a project can falter due to the inability to find an immediate replacement. But it is also an opportunity that can catapult a footballer’s career. Let them tell Luis Suárez or Van Dijk, successful signings for Liverpool in January, or Mayra Ramírez, a golden opportunity for a Chelsea that knew how to fish in the troubled accounts of the Levante women.
I like January trades with a long-term view. They are a kind of preview of a process that you trust will take you to a better place. I remember Asisat Oshoala, who provided Lluís Cortés’ Barça with the speed and power it needed to become big in Europe. She scored the only goal in the club’s first Champions League final, a loss that led to future victories.
