What Are The Perfect Conditions For A Soccer Transfer Wildfire?
Today’s most sizzling rumors include Barcelona outcast Yerry Mina to Manchester United, Gonzalo Higuain to the San Siro, and Mateo Kovacic to Chelsea. It seems a soccer fan can’t browse the web without being engulfed in rumours. With the World Cup over, rumours are given full reign over media outlets.
Even reputed publications find themselves spinning webs of rumours for soccer fans to voluntarily get stuck in. Yet before you go out and buy your custom-made Chelsea jersey with Pulisic’s name on the back, you should accept the fact that most of the rumours you hear will only ever go so far as being oversized headlines in clickbait articles. So why are so many publications inundated with transfer rumours?
Void Of Meaningful Soccer
Unlike other sports, soccer is a year-round sport. When the major domestic league seasons end, the international competitions head to the centre circle. But in between international competition and domestic seasons, there is always a gap of around a month where meaningful soccer of any sort isn’t being played.
In this soccer void, a rumour storm begins to brew. With news from competitions like the World Cup, the EUROs, and Copa America out of the paper, rumours can bounce from publication to the next without soccer results stealing their thunder.
The Possibilities
Soccer is the world’s game. Every transfer window, we see players moving to clubs all over the planet. Despite sports such as rugby, cricket, basketball, and baseball all being played in a variety of countries, players tend to ply their trade in their home country’s league unless a degree of exceptionalism has been demonstrated.
In other sports, the destination of a coveted player is limited. However, in soccer it’s not uncommon for a player of quality to find himself playing in a new country every year; e.g. Nicolas Anelka and Ricardo Quaresma. With such worldwide appeal, the number of teams a player can potentially play for is only limited but how quickly a work permit can be obtained.
Agents Do More Than Whisper
Most of the rumours are generated by imaginative editors looking to attract a few salivating soccer fans to their publication. Yet other times soccer agents deliberately contact media outlets with ‘sensitive’ information. Agents will find themselves talking to the media if they’re looking to generate buzz around their player.
This tactic will often be employed in order to force the hand of a club president in the hopes of signing a new deal or renegotiate with a player. It can also be a cheeky method of augmenting the transfer fee of a player looking for a new home. If the fee isn’t raised as a result of talking with the media at least the agent has swiftly notified clubs that their player is on the market.
Publications Need Eyes
With more content being produced than ever, publications need to be constantly churning out attractive content. For publications struggling to survive, taking the high road and not writing about the Neymar transfer saga might not be an option.
Editors need to turn the fans’ love of the game into readership. The easiest way to do this is to print a juicy transfer headline on the front page no matter how dubious the sources.
We’re Suckers For Fantasy
Everybody likes to imagine their club netting one of the hottest players on the market. Man United fans would love to return back to the glory days, so they’ll suspend their reason and believe in the messianic second coming of CR7.
Barcelona fans will accept Mbappe rumours as fact if it means he’ll join the club and bring them a Champions League trophy. Fantasizing about what-ifs no matter how far-fetched is a frivolous pastime that the transfer rumour mill inspires.
If readers are receptive to rumour articles, editors will, in turn, produce them until readers are bloated with dreams of grandeur.