By Keir Radnedge

All across the world, but Europe in particular, the window has been flung open: the transfer window, that peculiar device which turns players’ established contracts into waste paper and invites club owners, presidents, directors and managers to spend money as if the worldwide economic crisis did not exist.

But what is the transfer window, why does it exist and who are the main players?

To start with the last question – the main players are, firstly, struggling clubs want to find ruthless central defenders, all-action defensive midfielders and goal-happy strikers to help them avoid relegation; and the main players are, secondly, leading clubs (Manchester United, Inter, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Barcelona, Liverpool and the like) who want to find experienced, versatile veterans happy and patient enough to flit off the substitutes’ bench only when required (There are exceptions but more about them later).

The European window is controversial: in the offshore British “island” managers in England and Scotland view it as an unnecessary imposition by world federation FIFA; on the mainland continent of Europe, by contract, the window is seen as a slice of modern-day generosity.

The decisive turning point came in December 1995 with the Bosman Judgment handed down by the European Court of Justice.

To summarise briefly: modest Belgian club midfielder Jean-Marc Bosman had reached the end of his contract with FC Liege and wanted to move to French second division club Dunkerque. Liege demanded a fee that Dunkerque could not afford. Bosman thus went to the Belgian civil courts and sued Liege, the Belgian federation and the European confederation (UEFA) alleging restraint of trade.

The Belgian court referred the case up to the European Court whose judgment declared as illegal all “foreign player” restrictions within the European Union and also declared illegal any attempt by a club to hold a player or claim any rights over him beyond the end of his contract.

The threat of transfer market chaos led FIFA, UEFA, players’ union FIFpro and the European commission (the executive office of the European Union whose legally-enmeshed members now include half of the European nations) to sit down and negotiate a player transfer system which answers the requirements of European employment law.

Hence the game has the present system whereby players can move fee-free at the end of their contracts and are thus often sold, deliberately, the previous year while their clubs can still obtain some money. Also under the agreement, two “windows” are set aside each year in which transfer business can be undertaken: June to the end of August and then again January.

The windows were proposed by FIFA and conceded, albeit only reluctantly by the European commission, to try to avert the chaos feared from a perpetually open “transfer season”.

This system is not universally appreciated. Chuck Blazer, general secretary of CONCACAF (the confederation of Central and North America) has complained openly about why European law has been extended around the world.

Blazer says: “The Europeans can do what they want within their own boundaries; that is perfectly proper. What I don’t understand is why FIFA decided that the rules in Europe should be applied to Africa, to Asia and to the Americas.

“Every continent has its own differing cultures, systems, climatic conditions and soccer seasons. They should be free to administer the game the way it suits them – not the way to suit Europe.”

Never mind the logic of Blazer’s argument, however, the system is here to stay until Asian plus North, Central and South American football directors can muster majority opposition within FIFA Congress – which will be a long time. The system suits both Europe and all those African clubs, leagues and federations for whom Europe represents the lucrative major export market for players.

English criticism of the present transfer window owes everything to the way the system worked before Bosman.

English football did indeed operate a perpetual transfer free-for-all until the end of March. For the last six weeks of the season all transfers were banned to ensure that rich clubs did not use their power to subvert the decisive closing stages of the league campaign.

Thus many of today’s English club managers – usually those whose clubs are fighting to avoid relegation – complain about the unfairness of a transfer restriction which prevents them trying to buy their way out of trouble.

Mainland, continental Europe was used to a different system however whereby transfers were permitted only during the close-season in the summer with little or no leeway for further dealing until the following year.

This meant that a club had to think about the full season ahead when making their summer transfer moves; it also laid more stress on the coaching powers of the manager to get the best out of his players. He would not have the option of going out to buy someone new to plug an unexpected weakness.

The way the present system works is clear: the vast majority of major dealing takes place in the summer, between the end of one western European season and the start of the next.

Various reasons account for this: firstly, the big clubs do not want to disrupt their squads when they are halfway through a battle for the major domestic (and international prizes); secondly, the best players at the top clubs are usually not eligible to play for a second club in European club competition.

Not that club directors always think sensibly about such issues when they are under pressure to make some big signings to appease angry and/or impatient fans.

Thus Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon sought to ease the pressure generated by a string of poor results by sacking coach Bernd Schuster and splashing out around £30m on Ajax Amsterdam’s Holland striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Portsmouth’s French midfielder Lassana Diarra.

Both Huntelaar and Diarra had played this season in the UEFA Cup which meant that each could play now in the Champions League as well. However, UEFA rules state that a club may apply for eligibility for only ONE midseason signing. Thus only Huntelaar or Diarra can play for Madrid in the Champions League knockout stage – and furious fans have been demanding the sacking of sports director Pedja Mijatovic for the oversight.

President Calderon wants to register Huntelaar for Europe to provide some extra attacking excitement for the fans; but the players themselves want Diarra registered to bring some grit and discipline to defensive midfield.

New coach Juande Ramos is stuck in the middle – knowing that, in the event of defeat by Liverpool in the Champions League second round, he will be the one handed the blame.

Madrid may well be overtaken in the transfer window spending stakes anyway by Manchester City. The “other” Manchester club is expected to be the month’s big spenders partly to fulfill their Abu Dhabi owners’ promises of a bright future but also, more immediately, to pull away from the Premier League relegation fringe.

The trouble is, players and their agents are as savvy as the clubs. The best players want to play Champions League football, either this season or next season. This means that struggling clubs, such as City, start under a significant handicap based on a lack of upwardly mobile potential.

Not that this deters over-optimistic directors and fans. They are all welcoming the transfer window as the opportunity to turn a season around by splashing the cash.

That makes plenty of other people happy: it keeps managers in their jobs a little longer, it offers new opportunities to some unwanted players and it keeps agents in business from the go-between work.

Also, of course, it keeps the media in headlines . . .

Keir Radnedge is one of the foremost commentators and analysts of international football, having covered 11 World Cup finals tournaments – starting with England in 1966. Based in London, he has written extensively for newspapers and magazines in the UK and worldwide. He is author of 24 books about football, ranging from biographies to histories to encyclopaedias, and is a regular broadcaster on television and radio with BBC, CNN and Sky, has scripted a series of World Cup history films, and has been a lead contributor – and is a former Editor – of World Soccer magazine. His latest venture is in expanding the soccer coverage of the Tampa, Florida-founded international website SportsFeatures.com.