The pandemic affect: How this transfer window will be different from others?
By Varun Aithal
COVID-19 had a worldwide reach and a negative impact globally. With this in mind, how badly has the sweeping pandemic affected this summer’s transfer window?
It was all going good in the English Premier League. Teams were reaching the home stretch but then Mikel Arteta was affected by the Coronavirus and then season came to a halt. However, with the situation getting eased in the UK, the Premier League will restart from June 17.
Despite the league getting back, multiple things will be swayed post-COVID for football. Among those, the transfer window is going to top the list. The games will be played behind closed doors for the rest of the season and are expected to continue for at least the rest of 2020 as such.
With no fans in the stadiums, the ticket revenues, revenues associated with merchandise deals will drastically fall. The drastic fall in income will result in a cash crunch for the clubs. The cash crunch will adversely affect the transfer window too.
Premier League clubs predicted to lose £500m due to the financial implications of the coronavirus pandemic
— utdreport (@utdreport) June 11, 2020
According to reports published in Evening Standard, the lockdown is going to lose a revenue of around £1 billion. This would further rise with the reversal of furlough decisions by the clubs and reduced ticket and merchandise sales.
These factors contribute to the changing nature of the summer transfer window of the 2020-21 season.