It’s the sensation of the season in La Liga. Sávio Moreira de Oliveira aka Savinho is having an exceptional season with Girona. For example, he is the best dribbler in the Spanish championship, and has 5 goals and 7 assists in 23 matches. Enough to assert himself, at the age of 19, as one of the biggest hopes in world football. A player who, we remind you, belongs on paper to… Troyes! Even if behind all this, there is of course the City Football Group, owner of the French club and which also has significant shares in the Spanish team.
And in recent hours, several Spanish and European media have revealed that Manchester City intends to offer it. Very complicated negotiations to be expected therefore, with on one side the managers of the City Football Group, and on the other… those of the City Football Group… Behind this transfer of players between clubs of the same conglomerate, we are probably witnessing a historic transfer which risks marking a turning point in the history of the transfer window…
A first
Of course, this is not the first time that a player has passed through several clubs in the same group. This is a trend that has been going on for several years now. We saw it again with OL this winter, where several players from John Textor’s Eagle Group clubs arrived, just as clubs from the Red Bull galaxy often have. habit of bartering with each other. Udinese and Granada often exchanged pieces as well, especially when the Spaniards were in D2. On the other hand, this is the first time that we have witnessed such a movement between two clubs at the top of the table in major championships and who are likely to be in the Champions League next season. Which inevitably raises questions of conflicts of interest and competitiveness. In the near future, for example, it is entirely possible to imagine several big clubs having “subsidiary” teams playing at the highest level. At a time when European football seems more unbalanced than ever and where a few clubs have all the talent, this could further accentuate this phenomenon.
Not even to mention the constraints linked to financial fair play which can easily be circumvented in this type of operation, and obvious unfair competition compared to clubs which cannot benefit from such advantages. There is also the risk of seeing clubs only serve as nominees, like Troyes in this case. This is also the first time that we are faced with a case where a star player belongs to a club of such a low caliber as ESTAC. In difficulty in Ligue 2 (fifteenth in the standings), the Aube team is perhaps even the big loser in this matter. Which had the gift of annoying Jérôme Rothen. “With Savio, we have passed a milestone, we must denounce it”he summarized on RMC Sport. But there is no doubt that operations of this type are likely to recur in the future…
