It’s been less than two weeks since Italy defeated England in EURO 2020 (taking place in 2021). For European soccer fans that doesn’t mean it’s time to take a break from the game. Instead, it means the “Silly Season” as teams throughout the continent get ready for the 2021-2022 season. (Yes it appears that the soccer “season” is really just one continuous cycle of play).
The Silly Season refers to the summer transfer window. It’s the period of time where clubs make new signings, tie-down players to contracts, and rumors of who’s going where continue until the transfer window officially closes on August 31st.
For those not familiar with the transfer window, it can be both confusing and infuriating. The reason is, that in the age of social media and sports outlets competing for ‘Clicks”, it’s impossible to decipher fact from fiction. Take for example the following headlines:
Every player linked with Manchester United in the summer transfer window the list includes Declan Rice, Jadon Sancho, Harry Kane, Kieran Trippier, Erling Haaland, Tom Heaton, Raphael Varane, Sergio Ramos, Jack Grealish, Raphinha, Cristiano Ronaldo, Jules Kounde, Ben White, Pau Torres, Ousmane Dembele, Kingsley Coman and Eduardo Camavinga.
Arsenal news and transfers live: £34.5m Locatelli bid, Lyon want to sell Aouar, Xhaka update this lists players expected to leave such as Granit Xhaka, Reiss Nelson, Joe Willock, Hector Bellerin, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Lucas Torreira, Eddie Nketiah and more. Those coming in include Albert Sambi Lokonga, Ben White and Nuno Tavares. Then there are those that Arsenal has been “linked” with: Miralem Pjanic, Renato Sanches, Manuel Locatelli, Houssem Aouar, Nahitan Nandez, Sam Johnstone, Neto, Yves Bissouma, Martin Odegaard and Philippe Coutinho.
As you can see this is complicated, full of rumors (true or false who knows) and can leave fans with a headache and confusion.
It’s not just the press, however. The “know it alls” and “experts” on social media are constantly fueling stories that may or may not have any validity.
The definition of the Silly Season according to Wikipedia is as follows:
In the United Kingdom and in some other places, the silly season is the period lasting for a few summer months typified by the emergence of frivolous news stories in the media.
The bottom line is nothing is official until it is actually announced. If you want to follow along, all deals must be completed by August 31st.
Don’t worry though, come January it’s time for the Silly Season part 2 when the Winter Transfer Window opens.