2022, football and the hope of the new year

Cristiano Ronaldo has left the big league to join Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia, is that the end of the magic of CR7? (Photo credit: Al Nassr)

Happy new year! 2022 was a great year for football, the year of fine margins and everything in between; the year of a winter World Cup, shocking upsets and emerging talents, the year we lost football icon, Pele, and the year Lionel Messi achieved immortality… it was such a great year.

Welcome to 2023, the new year ushers in the dawn of the transfer window and it’s a month of hard long negotiations, fighting for momentum, and scrambling for points across grounds. You snooze, you lose; welcome to fresh beginnings.

What’s in the news? Enzo Fernandes to Chelsea is imminent as trusted journalists in the Portuguese league are reporting that an agreement has been reached between Chelsea and the World Cup winner and all that is left is for the clubs to agree.

Didn’t we say we’re always wary of signing players off World Cup performances? The amount being quoted for the Argentine midfielder who won the best young player of the tournament is outrageous but Chelsea does what Chelsea does.

Arsenal is expected to bring in a forward and with Mikhalo Murdruyk throwing himself to the Gunners, posting every Arsenal game on his story, and following the club like a bee, it would be a surprise if he doesn’t file out with the premier league leaders in the coming days.

Liverpool already signed Cody Gakpo but they need a new body in midfield; Harvey Elliot is a revelation and the young lads coming through from the academy can help but you don’t win the title with youngsters, they need to make a statement in the January window.

Whatever it is that is going on in the head of Erik Ten Hag, he must understand that you don’t impress with a lean squad; the void left by Cristiano Ronaldo has to be filled and the earlier he does that, the best for his team.

Speaking of Cristiano Ronaldo, the mega-money deal with the Saudi club is one thing, but his ambition of playing at the top forever is another; ignore the bants on social media, Ronaldo would be funny not to take the money, how will things pan out for him in the Middle East?