The Transfer Machine, Explained
Plus: preseason chaos across three continents, an update on FIFA's power struggle, and why medicals can kill a deal
Welcome to The Tap-Inn. Where you can tap-in to the world of soccer with me, your Irish Tap-Inn bartender, Joe. đ»
The transfer window is wide open. Clubs have one more month to make their squad better before it slams shut. You get unlimited shots to do the same with your inbox, forwarding this to a friend, family member, or long-lost acquaintance who could use a Tap-Inn subscription. No medical required, no work permit needed. Just a thoughtâŠ
On tap today:
đž How the transfer market actually worksâŠjust under a month to go until Deadline Day chaos
✠Preseason rolls on and the biggest teams are spread out across the globe
đ Infantino's $20 billion World Cup sell-off blew up, what happens next?
Ready? Let's tap-in.
đ„ TOP SHELF
How the Transfer Machine Works (Part 1)
USMNT star Sebastian Berhalter got a new club this week
If you've only recently got into soccer, this idea of a transfer market may seem bizarre to you. So why the chaos, and how does a player actually move from one club to another? Let's tap-in.
The clock is real. Not in a NFL draft kind of way but in a uniquely soccer kind of way. The Premier League summer transfer window closes at 11pm UK time on September 1. Each league is slightly different, for example the MLS shuts its window a day later on September 2. Miss that deadline and you're stuck with the squad you've got. No emergency signings, no last-minute cavalry. It's happy hour for player trading, and once last call hits, the taps run dry.
It usually starts with a phone call. A manager watches the World Cup, spots a player who fits, and reaches out to the selling club with one question: "What would it take?" Meanwhile, the player's agent is often working the other side, whispering to their client that a bigger club has come calling. With the World Cup just wrapped, every scout has a notebook full of names, and every club in Europe is asking the same thing: which of these players can we actually get?
The headline fee is never the real fee. Say Arsenal agrees to pay Newcastle $70m for Bruno GuimarĂŁes, that's just the opening fee. There's usually a base fee, then add-ons stacked on top: extra payments if he plays a certain number of games, or if Arsenal wins the league.
âHow much of this does the player get???â
None of it. Thatâs all on top of his wages, which are negotiated separately. A player is well within his rights to walk away if the money doesn't work for him. Than there's the agent, who typically pockets 5â10% of the fee for putting the deal together. Some contracts even include a sell-on clause, so if Arsenal later flips Bruno to Real Madrid, Newcastle gets a cut of that too. By the time you add it all up, that "$70m transfer" is often closer to $90m or $100m once wages and fees are baked in over the life of the contract.
Even after the money's sorted, deals can still die in the paperwork. This is the boring stuff but it can make or break a deal. A player moving from South America needs a UK work permit, and the government may not always say yes. Clubs also can't register a player without a release document from his old team. The Premier League caps how many non-EU players a club can carry, so sometimes a sale has to happen before a signing can. And every deal hinges on a medical, fail that, and the whole thing collapses, no matter how much money was on the table. Iâll explain more on that below.
âThis system is crazy compared to a draft, where I can learn more?â
On Friday, weâll get into the real chaos in Part 2. The 11pm scrambles, the deals that fall apart in the final minutes, and why managers start pulling their hair out as the clock winds down.
â°Â TL;DR: A transfer needs at least three things to click. An agreed fee between clubs, wages the player will accept, and a mountain of paperwork (work permits, registration, medicals) that doesn't fall apart. Arsenal's Bruno GuimarĂŁes deal, Chelsea's Danny Welbeck signing, and Nathan AkĂ©'s move to Fenerbahce are all playing out this exact process right now.
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đïž THIS WEEK IN SOCCER
The World Cup Sale Fallout
Late Friday, the FIFA president scrapped the World Cup sell-off plan entirely, saying the "proposal will not proceed." The boycott threat worked. But the bigger story now is what it will cost him going forward.
Infantino was cruising toward a formality of a re-election for a fourth term in 2027. Now that's in serious doubt. This marks the first time in his decade running FIFA that he's been forced to retreat under coordinated pressure from multiple confederations at once, and UEFA has stated the "task of rebuilding trust in Fifa" has only just begun.
Removing him isn't simple though. A vote of no confidence needs 43 member associations to trigger, and his opponents would need a candidate who can win support well beyond Europe. Infantino's long-held African backing could still save him. As we publish, the English and Welsh associations have withdrawn their support for Infantino as the pressure continues to mount on the FIFA president. More are expected.
Preseason Recap
đŽLiverpool 2-4 Leeds United (Sun Aug 2, Soldier Field, Chicago): Luke Chambers and Florian Wirtz put Liverpool 2-0 up at half-time, before goals from Aaronson, a Dominic Calvert-Lewin double, and Longstaff turned the game on its head. Wirtz and Isak both getting minutes will likely be more important than the result itself.
đ«Arsenal 4-1 Girona (Sat Aug 1, Estadi Montilivi, Girona): The reigning Premier League champions cruised in Catalonia, a solid warmup two weeks before the Community Shield date with Man City.
đčManchester United 2-1 AtlĂ©tico Madrid (Sat Aug 1, Stockholm): Bryan Mbeumo's double earned United the win in Sweden, a nice confidence boost after a mixed start to preseason for the Red Devils.
Premier League Countdown
18 days until kickoff. The Premier League season begins August 21, a week later than usual to help clubs recover from the World Cup. The Community Shield (Arsenal vs. Man City, Cardiff) will take place August 16 as the unofficial curtain-raiser.
đ Carabao Cup First Round begins on Friday (Aug 7) The League Cup kicks off before the Premier League season even starts, the first taste of competitive soccer since the World Cup. Premier League teams will join in Round 2 or Round 3 depending on if they play in Europe this season.
đźđȘArsenal vs. Real Betis (Wed Aug 5, Aviva Stadium, Dublin): Arsenal's preseason tour swings through my hometown of Dublin for a proper home-away-from-home test against La Liga opposition.
đžđȘManchester United vs. PSG (Sat Aug 8, Gothenburg): United's toughest test yet this preseason. Michael Carrick has already handed minutes to 27 different players in his first three preseason outings, so expect some changes again here.
đ THE TRANSFER TAP-IN
Danny Welbeck, 35, has signed a two-year deal at Chelsea.
The big-money moves
Bruno GuimarĂŁes to Arsenal â Arsenal are close to agreeing a fee with Newcastle, reportedly $104m for the Brazilian midfielder. Newcastle are now lining up Inter Milan's Petar Sucic as his replacement, a sign they've quietly accepted the deal is likely to happen.
Danny Welbeck to Chelsea â Chelsea have completed the signing of the experienced forward, as Xabi Alonso looks for squad balance ahead of the new season.
Nathan AkĂ© to Fenerbahce â Ake's six-year run at Manchester City is over, completing his move to Turkey. The classic retirement ground for European soccer players.
Curtis Jones to Inter Milan? â The Liverpool midfielder seems to want out, and Inter are closing in on a fee around $40m, below Liverpool's $46m asking price, a deal that makes sense given he'd be a free agent in 2027 otherwise, but itâs going to go down to the wire.
Middlesbrough's building a USMNT contingent
If youâre a USMNT fan who is looking for a European Club to follow for the upcoming season. Iâve two got options for you.
(1) Check out my quiz to help you find a team based on your personality over at whatteamtorootfor.com
(2) Support Middlesbrough: The Championship club has finalized deals for both Sebastian Berhalter (from Vancouver Whitecaps) and Max Arfsten (from Columbus Crew, worth up to $7.5 million), reuniting them with fellow American Aidan Morris, is already on their books. Berhalter deputized for an injured Christian Pulisic at the World Cup. Three USMNT players at one Championship side. It could be an exciting one to follow for the season.
đ ASK JOE
"Last weekâs Sound like a Regular was âa medicalâ. What actually happens if a player fails his medical after a transfer is agreed?"
Thanks to Connor in Texas for the question.
Short answer: the whole deal can die on the spot, no matter how much money was already agreed.
Once two clubs shake hands on a fee, the player still has to pass a full medical before anything's official. We're talking scans, bloodwork, fitness tests, sometimes a look at old injury history. Clubs aren't just checking if a player can walk, they're checking if he can handle years of top level soccer without breaking down.
If something shows up, a dodgy knee, a heart concern, anything that raises a red flag, the buying club can walk away completely. No fee gets paid. No contract gets signed. The transfer fee that was "agreed" was never actually binding, it was contingent on this exact moment.
It's the reason clubs never celebrate a transfer until the medical's done and the signature's dry. Anything before that is just paperwork with really good intentions.
Got a question yourself? Just reply to this email or drop me a line at hello@thetap-inn.com.
đ„ QUICKFIRE
Cult hero Chicharito is not done yetâŠ
Sound Like a Regular
Phrase: "Squad depth"
Origin: Crept into soccer punditry over the last couple decades as European competitions multiplied. When you're playing 50+ games a season across league, cup, and continental competition, one great starting XI isn't enough anymore.
Definition: How good a team's backup options are. Not just your 11 best players, but your next 11 after that.
Usage:"Arsenal's got great squad depth this year. Bruno coming in means they can rotate without losing quality."
On This Day
August 3, 2017 â Neymar's move from Barcelona to PSG was officially confirmed,a $262 million deal that more than doubled the previous transfer record and still stands as the biggest transfer fee in soccer history, nine years later.
Some records are made to be broken. This one just refuses to budge.
Last Call
Chicharito's next chapter.
Javier "Chicharito" Hernåndez, Mexico's all-time leading scorer, has signed with USL Championship expansion side Atlético Dallas, a new club that won't even kick a ball competitively until 2027.
He'll be their first-ever signing. A World Cup legend spending his twilight years as the face of a franchise that doesn't play its first game for another year. What an easy pay day. SlĂĄinte to a soft landing.
Have a great week, folks!
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