Transfer Anarchy To End?

UEFA supremo Michel Platini has again been giving us his man of the people, greed is bad routine:

UEFA president Michel Platini has declared the new regulations to halt excessive spending will bring an end to the transfer market "anarchy".

The organisation are set to gradually implement new financial fair play rules from next season in attempt to keep a lid on club debt and create a level playing field.

These measures could put a halt to the influence of billionaire benefactors such as Roman Abramovich and Sheikh Mansour on the sport, and the ex-Juventus and France superstar backs the governing body's action.

He said: "For years and years we were in total anarchy but the clubs asked for the rules because they knew they could not continue.

"We can see already that the clubs are spending less as they look to balance their books.

"This is because the first time the break-even rule will kick in is in the coming year, the 2011-2012 season.

"It's very soon and this means that the strategy to say 'I can now go and spend hundreds of millions' doesn't work because we will see it in two years at the latest.

"Transfers have not been as crazy as in the last few years, they are pulling up their socks and the clubs are making special efforts to comply with the rules."

The legislation will allow owners to inject €15 million (£12.3m) a year into their clubs up until 2015, and then €10m (£8.2m) until 2018. This cash cannot be a loan, which is an approach already taken by the Manchester City and Chelsea hierarchy. (From Goal.com)

We'll see.

One thing that struck me yesterday though.

The transfer window and the apparent rush to get signatures and close deals is a stupendously bad way to run a business.

I understand the need for a transfer window - although I'd prefer it to end before the league season starts - but I can't see how it encourages a sensible financial approach.

Yesterday may have been quieter than some windows of the crazy, recent past (Sam Allardyce and his Bolton helicopter springs to mind) but even so, it seems a strange way to reconnect the game with a degree of financial sanity.

Maybe Michel the Red should turn his attention to that next.