As the closing of the summer transfer window ended the latest bout of shirt-swapping it was difficult to believe this was quite what Mr Justice Wilberforce had in mind 46 years ago when he declared that a system which bound a footballer to a club whether or not he actually wanted to play for them was an unreasonable restraint of trade. In fact so unrestrained have the movements of players between clubs become that the managers surely have a case for winning a similar ruling in the high court on the grounds that their trade of building winning teams has become unreasonably restricted by a lack of certainty as to who is staying or going.
In England the situation every August is becoming farcical since the Premier League kicks off two weeks ahead of the transfer deadline, which means that matches are played against a background of gossip, rumour and the hubbub of offers being made and deals being done. It is as if, the play being cast and the final dress rehearsal completed, the leading man chooses opening night to declare that he would rather be taking centre stage in the next town.
Today George Eastham, who won the historic Wilberforce ruling in 1963, would not need to trouble m'learned friends if he wanted to leave Newcastle and play for Arsenal, still less go on strike as he did at the end of the 1959-60 season. He could just sit back and leave the forces of mammon to do the job for him, which is what Joleon Lescott did at Everton once it became known that Manchester City were interested in him. David Moyes, his manager at Goodison Park, left Lescott out, complaining of the player's "poor attitude", but the defender still ended up at Eastlands.
Footballers now have the ultimate freedom in which a contract is not so much a mutually-binding agreement as a pawn in negotiations. The clubs knew this when they held out over the question of compensation long after Eastham had established the principle that a player could change his job if he liked. Freedom of contract was only properly established in 1978 with the Professional Footballers' Association lifting its ban on foreign imports as a quid pro quo.
In 1995 the European Court of Justice upheld the ruling in a case brought by a Belgian player, Jean-Marc Bosman, barring transfer fees for players out of contract and removing the limit on the number of foreigners teams could field. Since then overseas players have flooded the English market, improving playing standards in many instances but considerably reducing the opportunities for homegrown products.
True, Fifa has just given Chelsea a Bosmans holiday, and a falling pound, a rising euro and 50% income tax may be halting some imports, yet of the 74 players involved in this summer's major sales just 14 were English. The wisdom and worth of the latest business round can only be judged by results.
It will be astonishing if Manchester City, with megabucks to spend, regret buying Emmanuel Adebayor, Gareth Barry or Lescott. Arsenal, too, appear to have bought wisely in signing Thomas Vermaelen, the only question being the time it has taken Arsène Wenger to acquire a defender with the makings of another Tony Adams. Why Wenger has not also purchased a goalkeeper with the qualities of another David Seaman remains a puzzle.
At least some light has been shed on Xabi Alonso's departure from Anfield to Real Madrid, the midfield player saying he always planned to leave Liverpool once the manager, Rafael Benítez, tried to sell him to Juventus last summer so he could sign Barry from Aston Villa. These are early days but Liverpool, without Alonso and no Barry, are drifting like a ship without a rudder. Benítez may have boobed big-time.
Big signings are big news but sometimes what follows does not bear out the headlines. Dimitar Berbatov arrived at Old Trafford from Tottenham just before last year's summer deadline literally under wraps in case he was waylaid by Manchester City. Yet last weekend, when Manchester United met Arsenal in this season's first major confrontation, he appeared for just the last five minutes and in last season's Champions League final, when United were being outplayed by Barcelona, he only came on after an hour. Sir Alex Ferguson always did have an eye for hidden talent but talent that stays hidden can eventually become broody. And boy, does Berbatov do broody!
