By John Considine
Last month, Arsenal were held to a draw by Southampton. Southampton were helped by a man-of-the-match performance by a stand-in full/wing back. Southampton could not play Ainsley Maitland-Niles in that position because he was on loan from Arsenal. Is it fair that Maitland-Niles can play against Arsenal's rivals but not against Arsenal?
"FIFA has recently released a project that could limit the number of out-going loans if they are conducted for 'commercial exploitation'. Such reforms could put more pressure on teams that use or depend on loans". These sentences come from a 2021 European Sports Management Quarterly paper. In the paper, Antoine Feuillet and colleagues attempt to identify those clubs who might be sporting competitors but engaged in economic cooperation (and those engaged in economic competition and sporting cooperation). It is in the market for player loans/transfers that there is this combination of competition and cooperation - known as coopetition.
The table below illustrates the areas where the authors sees clubs as engaged in either competition or cooperation. Cooperation is needed to administer the game. To deliver the product. Administration involves both sporting and economic cooperation. Then there is sporting competition on the field as measured by a variety of outcomes, e.g. UEFA Coefficient. There is economic competition for sponsorship and broadcast rights.
"FIFA has recently released a project that could limit the number of out-going loans if they are conducted for 'commercial exploitation'. Such reforms could put more pressure on teams that use or depend on loans". These sentences come from a 2021 European Sports Management Quarterly paper. In the paper, Antoine Feuillet and colleagues attempt to identify those clubs who might be sporting competitors but engaged in economic cooperation (and those engaged in economic competition and sporting cooperation). It is in the market for player loans/transfers that there is this combination of competition and cooperation - known as coopetition.
The table below illustrates the areas where the authors sees clubs as engaged in either competition or cooperation. Cooperation is needed to administer the game. To deliver the product. Administration involves both sporting and economic cooperation. Then there is sporting competition on the field as measured by a variety of outcomes, e.g. UEFA Coefficient. There is economic competition for sponsorship and broadcast rights.
Using the above variables they classify the clubs into different groups. At one end is the group involving clubs like PSG. At the other end are clubs "with few resources and a need for players, they use the loan system (and free agents) to strengthen their recruitment at lower cost". Included in this list are clubs that most people probably have not heard of, e.g. Arles, Avignon, Bastia, ..., Vannes. In between there are other groupings. My guess is that applying a similar analysis to the English Premier League would find that Arsenal and Southampton are in different groups. The strategic choices open to Arsenal are not those open to Southampton.
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