Glory Crowned, Winter Window Signings

This year's FIFA World Player of the Year award was the least suspenseful in history.

Because nothing could erase Lu Yang's performances over the past year.

This had also led many fans to question the current selection systems for the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year.

In recent years, FIFA World Player of the Year had indeed been far fairer than the Ballon d'Or.

But that did not mean it had no dark history of its own.

Its current prestige was simply because it had backed the right horse. It had strongly supported Lu Yang from the start, and now it was reaping the benefits of his rise.

But when all was said and done, was there really that much difference between FIFA World Player of the Year and the Ballon d'Or?

Clearly not.

This was not merely a matter of internal manipulation.

It was also related to the system itself.

While the end of the year marked the conclusion of a normal calendar year, it was meaningless in the football world.

Because by then, the season had only reached its halfway point.

If the second half of the previous season's performances was not taken into account, did that not mean the players' efforts during those months were completely meaningless?

That was unfair to the players.

But if performances from both halves of the year were truly weighed equally, then what about the end of the first half's season and the major summer tournaments? Were they not supposed to receive additional consideration? Were championships and various individual awards not supposed to come with an honors bonus?

That would not be right either.

So placing football's highest honors at the end of the calendar year was fundamentally unscientific.

Aside from allowing the awarding bodies to play both sides,