THE EFFICACY OF BUILDING A SQUAD

As a 33-year old Edinson Cavani edges closer to a move to Manchester United, it is fair to say that fans are divided, leaning towards a more pessimistic outlook. Paying £200k per week for a player in decline (he scored seven goals in all competitions last season), as well as injury prone (he missed 21 games last season due to various injuries), seems hardly to be a recipe for success. The transfer is not mitigated by the fact that it is free; soaking up his wages and the exorbitant bonuses as well as agent fees is something only a club with deep financial resources like Manchester United can manage.

Анна Нэсси / CC BY-SA 3.0 GFDL

Squad building is not the club’s strong suit. In my previous article, I mentioned about the efficient way in which the Red Bull group conducts its footballing business; a youth-oriented transfer policy targeting regions like Africa and selling them when the right offer comes; a model which has been immensely successful.

Real Madrid are an interesting case study. Arguably the biggest club in world football did the unprecedented when they won the Champions League three times in a row under manager Zinedine Zidane. Amongst the razzmatazz and the shine of Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo, lay hidden players like Dani Carvajal and Raphael Varane. In fact, the back five of Keylor Navas, Dani Carvajal, Raphael Varane, Sergio Ramos and Marcelo cost a combined £54 million; they started two of the three finals. You go slightly ahead, and you will find the Brazilian defensive midfielder Casemiro, who started all three finals; he cost the club £6 million. Compare that with the forwards; Cristiano Ronaldo was bought for £80 million, Karim Benzema for £31.5 million, and Gareth Bale for £91 million.

Attackers do tend to cost more; that is just how the market works. However, that is not to say there are not bargains to be had and hidden gems to be found. Smaller clubs tend to be smarter with how they conduct their business. Premier League side Brighton & Hove Albion have been impressive in the transfer market, signing players who gravitate around the grey zone; players in the pre-prime zone who have done well in good European leagues or in the Championship.

Malian midfielder Yves Bissouma is one such player. Having been acquired from French side Lille in 2018 for £15 million, the 24-year old found the going tough under Chris Hughton. However, the arrival of Graham Potter as manager has given him a new leash of life, and confirmed a school of thought that was evident during his Ligue 1 days. Bissouma, under the right management, could be a good player for a top club.

James Boyes from UK / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)

Premier League clubs, more than any other team, have the opportunity to gamble on players. Southampton were renowned for their transfer strategy during the mid-2010s, a strategy which seems to be on the up again at the club. Buying players like Sadio Mane from Austria, Virgil Van Dijk from Scotland, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg from Germany and Dusan Tadic from the Netherlands, and selling them, in the case of Mane and Van Dijk, for high profits two-three years later, became their calling card.

It does help when players like Luke Shaw, Calum Chambers and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are all developed in your academy. While this seems to have dried up in recent years, the fact that they have bought centre-back Mohammed Salisu from Real Valladolid is a harkening back to the old ways.

It is often highlighted that having the right amalgamation of youth and experience is the ideal way to construct a squad. Chelsea, for instance, have spent £222 million so far this transfer window, much of it on attack. An overpowered, youth driven attack does not stop goals from going in on the other side, especially when your goalkeeper is Kepa and your most experienced centre-back Antonio Rudiger is not preferred by the manager.

Chelsea moved to fix this problem, splurging £22 million on goalkeeper Edouard Mendy and £45 million on left-back Ben Chilwell. However, there most intriguing piece of business might be bringing in 36-year old centre-back Thiago Silva in on a free transfer.

                                                

Granada / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)

Silva was one of the best centre-backs of the modern generation, having captained the Brazilian national team and enjoyed incredible success with AC Milan and Paris Saint-Germain. There is no denying that adding a player who has won 30 titles across his career to a backline which consists of a 24-year old is he good, is he not Andreas Christensen, a 25-year old Kurt Zouma who has perhaps been Chelsea’s best centre-back, and a 22-year old available on loan Fikayo Tomori would improve that defence. While Mendy may be the most important transfer defensively, Silva, despite being on the wrong side of 30, could prove to a shrewd acquisition.

Chelsea can afford to take the risk with Thiago Silva, who is not going to be on pitiful wages. The problem comes with teams like Crystal Palace and Burnley, who have an ageing squad with not a lot of saleable assets to reinvest.

Crystal Palace forward Wilfried Zaha is the club’s most priced possession, and he is 27, having signed a new five-year contract in 2018. With still three years left in his contract, the ball is in Crystal Palace’s court. Here is a player courted by the likes of Arsenal and linked with Borussia Dortmund, but a player who can’t leave because his club value him at around £80 million. Even the most ardent of Zaha fans would agree that that is exorbitant, for a player reliant on his pace who is 27 years of age and who contributed to seven league goals last season. What you see from Zaha is what you will get; the time and room for development is long gone.

To Crystal Palace’s credit, they have worked on reducing the squad age this summer, bringing in a few talented youngsters. Midfielder Eberichi Eze, long touted as one of Championship’s best young prospects, joined the club for £17 million; if things go right, the 22-year old could soon occupy the same mantle that Zaha is on right now.

There is obviously no set way to build a squad. I intended this to be a single blog post, but will follow up on how some continental clubs are doing in another post soon.