The transfer window. Silly season. The time of year when fans scour the web for rumors and reports of who their team may be bringing into the club. On Tuesday, the MLS primary transfer window closed, bringing a conclusion to five months of wheeling and dealing around the league.
From the perspective of the public, a transfer window comes together over the course of days, a few weeks, or — at the painstaking longest — a couple months. Rumors turn into reports which, if all goes well, blossom into announcements. Or they evaporate into nothing.
All the while, fans and journalists alike turn to whatever resources available — from Transfermarkt valuations and Soccerway profiles, to Football Manager ratings and YouTube highlights — to assess whether the players their clubs are linked to will make a splash or fall flat.