British Invasion

It’s September. The leaves, by a kiss from the wind, are beginning to gracefully fall to the ground below. Schoolyards are once again filled by the laughter of youth as the kids begin yet another year behind books and chalkboards. And of course, the always riveting transfer market has been temporarily closed until frigid January.

Is there anything curious about the preceding paragraph? Is it that the leaves have a strikingly similar autumn performance to Didier Drogba? Or could it be that the schoolyards are likely filled not by laughter, but by the taunts and subsequent screams of uncontrollable little bastards maniacally running around and torturing each other? Well, Yes. But what we were referring to was that while the transfer window may have closed, there still persists frequent transactions of players between top European clubs. The difference is that these players are under the age of 18. The problem is that the smaller of the clubs involved generally has no say in the matter.

The issue at hand is the signing of young players from smaller clubs by the top clubs, most notably English. The root issue is the difference rules between continental Europe and Britain. In Italy, Spain and France, clubs are not allowed to sign their youth team players until they are 18. This allows larger clubs, usually English, to ‘steal’ the most promising young talent from across the Channel without penalty. The issue has been called "child trafficking" in the press, which we know to be a bit ridiculous considering the deplorable issue of child or human trafficking has grave and serious consequences. Lazio’s president Claudio Lotito was probably closer to the truth when, referring to United’s seizer of starlet Federico Macheda, he more accurately described the situation as a “proper cattle market.”

Manchester United has long been at the center of this controversy. Macheda came to United two years ago from Lazio on terms that were not so agreeable for Lotito:

"We tried in every way to stop Manchester United from taking away our player but the present Italian regulations don't give you any type of defence,"

Just recently, Fiorentina made contact with FIFA over a possible complaint about United’s signing of sixteen-year old Michele Fornasier. French club Le Havre also have found themselves on the short end after it was reported that United paid €200,000 to the parents of French youth international Paul Pogba. It should be mentioned that Sir Alex has denied the payment to any player’s parent, citing that it would be a “headache.” What is beyond argument, however, is that no matter the means, these youngsters keep arriving at places like Old Trafford or the Eastlands, where City have been accused of similar dealings in the arrival of Jeremy Helan from Rennes and others.

A light at the end of the tunnel has emerged in recent weeks due to FIFA’s penalization of English powerhouse Chelsea. The sentence: A ban from signing new players during the next two transfer windows. The action: In 2007, Chelsea illegally induced French sixteen-year old Gaël Kakuta to sign for the club from French club Lens. This is an especially dire punishment considering the second of those windows will take place immediately after next summer’s World Cup, when all the brightest young talent will be displayed on the biggest possible stage. They also banned Kakuta for four months and fined him €780,000. I suppose the theory being to discourage the players themselves in participating in the process. While punishing a six-teen year old may be a tad excessive, it warrants mentioning that at least Sepp Blatter and FIFA are trying to attack this problem from various angles and they should be commended for trying to protect the player first. This is especially true considering the clubs will try to use every loophole necessary in order to continue their means to a competitive advantage. One EU rule they cite is the labour laws that class 16- and 17-year-olds as workers with equal rights to free movement.

As of last fall in fact, there is evidence that Platini and UEFA are also trying to do their part by discussing a ban on the transfer of minors. A new rule implementation is also being considered which would see all minors sign a contract with the club that educates them up until the age of eighteen. Yet, the Chelsea ban remains by far the strongest action taken against the practice of poaching young players. Though surely Abromovich is fuming in his dark, oligarchic tower, FIFA has set a powerful precedent. In order to maintain the status quo, however, the other big clubs mentioned in this article must be subject to the same recourse that Chelsea has faced. If not, besides certain hypocrisy, FIFA would be showing favoritism and giving a dangerous double-standard to clubs like Manchester United and Sir Alex (god forbid).

written by Mark Stevens of thetruefootball.com