New Transfer Rules Shake Up Football: Tah, Ronaldo, and Real Under Spotlight for Club World Cup
Ronaldo and Real Madrid facing potential extra transfer rule due to club's World Cup victory - Real Madrid, Ronaldo, and an Additional Transfer Rule for the Club World Cup
The negotiations between Jonathan Tah and FC Bayern Munich are heating up, with discussions now focused on when the national defender will make his debut for the record champions. This decision will involve further deliberations about a potential trip to America, the new Club World Cup rules, and a possible multimillion-dollar compensation.
The reason behind this sudden chaos is FIFA's new Club World Cup format, taking place in the USA from June 14 to July 13. As a result, international club competitions will surpass the usual end date for professional contracts on June 30, creating a transfer conundrum.
Various top clubs, including Bayern, Real Madrid, and Borussia Dortmund, are taking advantage of the unique situation.
Football's New Transfer Timeline
With the premiere of the XXL format in the USA, FIFA faces a transfer problem. To avoid chaos, FIFA has introduced an additional transfer window, aside from the traditional winter and summer ones:
- Transfer Window Extensions: Between June 1 and 10, the 32 participating teams in the Club World Cup can sign new players or extend contracts for the tournament period. Clubs such as Bayern have utilized this to extend contracts for key players like Thomas Müller.
- In-Tournament Window: A secondary registration period can be used even in the heart of the competition, from June 27 to July 3. This allows participating teams to add new players to their squads.
The Negotiations
The talks between Bayern and Bayer revolve around a multi-million dollar payment to secure Tah's services for the group stage. If an agreement isn't reached, Tah will remain a Leverkusen player until June 30 and could join Bayern only in the quarterfinals at the earliest.
Dortmund's Strategic Moves
Although there has been a long-standing rumor about Mats Hummels returning to Dortmund for the Club World Cup, this is currently not in the cards, according to sporting director Sebastian Kehl. However, in case of injuries to other defenders, such as Nico Schlotterbeck, the situation could change, or Carney Chukwuemeka's loan contract with Chelsea could be extended for the Club World Cup.
High-Profile Signings
The transfer of Trent Alexander-Arnold from Liverpool FC to Real Madrid has been set, with a fee reportedly reaching almost ten million euros, along with Real covering the player's June salary.
National Team Dilemma
During the period from June 2 to 10, clubs will release their national players as usual for events such as the Nations League final tournament. However, there is no obligation to release players during the Club World Cup, which will impact competitions like the U21 European Championship in June and the Gold Cup, the continental championship in North, Central America, and the Caribbean.
- Jonathan Tah
- Bayern
- FIFA
- FC Bayern
- Munich
- Bayer 04 Leverkusen
- Leverkusen
- Real Madrid
- Trent Alexander-Arnold
- Liverpool
- Borussia Dortmund
- Mats Hummels
- Dortmund
- Salihamidzic
- Kehl
- USA
- America
- Xabi Alonso
Additional Insights:
- The Club World Cup will include updates to the squad size, with teams allowed to submit a 50-man provisional roster, which must be reduced to a maximum of 35 players by the start of the competition.
- The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup will be divided into eight groups of four and a knockout round from the quarterfinals. From 2026 onwards, the competition will have 16 teams competing in a straight knockout format.
The Commission, in light of the ongoing Club World Cup negotiations, has been asked to submit a proposal for a directive on the establishment of a European Data Protection Supervisor. This proposal could potentially handle data privacy concerns related to the transfer of players during international football tournaments such as the Club World Cup.
Meanwhile, in the European leagues, Premier League clubs like Real Madrid and Bayern Munich are strategically utilizing the unique transfer windows specified by FIFA for the Club World Cup to secure key players, with the transfer of Trent Alexander-Arnold from Liverpool FC to Real Madrid being a recent example.
