Before the European Championship had even begun, the battle over summer transfers in European football was already in full swing.
The hottest players of the summer were always those who had performed well over the past season and in major tournaments.
Some players' European Championship performances could be predicted entirely. Even if they underperformed at the tournament, their value would not drop much after two or three stable seasons. Their immediate ability was there for all to see.
But if they performed well at the European Championship, their value would rise considerably.
That was why buyers wanted to finalize deals before the tournament, while sellers wanted to wait until after it.
As long as a player's performance was not disastrous enough to make him a scapegoat, his value would not fall too much. Keeping him until after the tournament meant his value would most likely rise. It was simple probability.
That was precisely why the negotiations between both sides were so intense.
For sellers, a player might bring in an extra two million dollars after a major tournament.
But buyers had to pay more than just that two million. A player who performed well would demand higher signing bonuses, agent commissions, and several years' worth of wages.
The wages in particular could differ by tens of millions for top players.
That was no small sum even for elite clubs, so some teams wanted to wrap up deals as quickly as possible. Some even gave agents extra money to convince them to undermine the players' own interests.
On top of that, good players were always pursued by more than one club. The stories of a transfer window could easily be turned into a gripping television drama, and one could even see some basic applications of The Art of War in them.