Player Welfare and Transfer Windows: Are Modern Players Too Soft?

Anselmino and McNiel - Do They Have a Case for Being Mistreated?

The January transfer window has slammed shut and, as it does every year, supplied us with a healthy dose of daily drama, whether it be transfer plots that backfired spectacularly or moves that fell through in the final moments of deadline day.

Two moves in particular caught the eye of the football-following public, namely, Aaron Anselmino’s recall and then re-loan by Chelsea, and Dwight McNiel’s failed move to Crystal Palace from Everton on deadline day.

🚨CRYSTAL PALACE CHASE THE SIGNATURE OF DWIGHT MCNEIL.

🦅The Eagles are needing to boost their options ahead of the deadline, with their focus switching to Merseyside.

📲Full Story in bio#CrystalPalace #CPFC #Everton #Mcneil #Deadlineday pic.twitter.com/oyZVSR6BBv

— Football Park (@FP_CentreCircle) February 2, 2026

McNiel’s move looked certain until the final minutes of the window, while, when Anselmino was called back from Germany, it looked certain that he was finally going to be given some minutes by his parent club.

Neither ended up happening, and between a very public outburst from McNiel’s partner and plenty of online sympathy for Anselmino after he was shipped off to Chelsea’s sister club Strasbourg, it’s time to consider whether the January transfer window has a negative impact on player welfare or whether modern stars simply can’t deal with a change of plan.

Protect The Asset

In the case of Anselmino, you may disagree with me here, but I think Chelsea got it absolutely right. But first, the facts.

The 20-year-old Argentinian defender was sent out on loan to Borussia Dortmund at the start of the campaign, and quickly became a popular figure at the Signal Iduna Park, notching a goal and assist in 10 appearances before an injury cut his game time significantly.

However, Dortmund were impressed with their new man and, against the rules of the deal with Chelsea, used his loan as a chance to unsettle the Chelsea man in an attempt to get his price down ahead of a potentially permanent move in the summer.

This is illegal – when a player has been sent on a vanilla loan deal, the recipients of the player must abide by the terms of the deal and not go behind the loaning club's back in a bid to get the player on a cheap deal.

Borussia Dortmund effectively tried to turn Anselmino against Chelsea and get him to force a move, and so as soon as the Chelsea hierarchy caught wind of this, the only sensible option was to recall Anselmino before any further damage was done.

🚨😳 This Aarón Anselmino case is raising SERIOUS concerns about player management in modern football:

• Chelsea signed him in summer 2024, keeping him on loan at Boca Juniors until January 2025

• He played ZERO minutes for Chelsea's first team in the 2024/25 season

•… pic.twitter.com/7BjBkMSJKg

— The Touchline | 𝐓 (@TouchlineX) February 3, 2026

Nevertheless, it was a heartbreaking departure – footage quickly circulated online of Anselmino crying as he said his goodbyes to the squad and the staff, and one wonders why a player is so upset to leave after a mere six months there.

Although it was never directly stated, various journalists indicated that Anselmino could be part of Chelsea’s first-team plans upon his return, particularly after they failed to seal the signing of Rennes defender Jeremy Jacquet.

So when the Blues instead recalled Strasbourg starlet Mamadou Sarr to use as squad depth at centre-back, and Anselmino was sent to the French side in his place, there was a huge amount of public uproar, accusing Chelsea of mistreating the youngster.

Though many may not like Chelsea's approach to protecting Anselmino, what with the constant relocation and change in plans, there is no doubt that it will be effective in the long run. The Chelsea owners, Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali, are adventure capitalists at heart, and it shows in the decision-making here.

Had Dortmund successfully tapped up Anselmino and unsettled him to the point of forcing a move, the club would have sold him for a reduced price in a bid to get a player kicking up a stink in the press off their books.

Anselmino is clearly a very high-value player - had Dortmund’s plot worked, he would have sold for around £30 million - Chelsea clearly think he has the potential to be a £60–70 million player further down the line, and if the owners miss out on even a million of that, it will be a kick in the teeth.

Aarón Anselmino's first day at the office. 👀

pic.twitter.com/zuZ99SuDGh

— Racing Club de Strasbourg Alsace English (@RCSA_English) February 2, 2026

Blue Co. are running Chelsea as a business, and if you are to run a business well, you can’t sell your assets for any less than you value them.

It is easy to see why Anselmino has supporters online - the chopping and changing, the tearful goodbyes and surprise plane tickets to France – but in the long run, what Chelsea have done this transfer window will work in both of their favours in the future. At least at Strasbourg, Chelsea have full control.

“Radio Silence”

Onto McNiel now, whose £20 million move to Crystal Palace looked all but a done deal by lunchtime. However, the Eagles stalled, and stalled, and stalled some more, until eventually, the paperwork on their end failed to be done “in time”, meaning the transfer fell through and McNeily stayed at Everton.

As soon as they started stalling the move, Palace stopped all communications with McNeil himself, leaving the winger in the dark about his future and, unable to plan transport, relocation, and even things as simple as the next day's plans.

Dwight Mcneil’s GF via Instagram #EFC pic.twitter.com/g7J9jjvvOe

— JDBEFC_ (@Jburtonefc) February 3, 2026

McNeil’s partner, Megan Sharpley, let her feelings be known in no uncertain terms in a revealing Instagram story in which she discussed footballers’ mental health: “Going from everything to radio silence, no phone call, no communication and to be left broken-hearted with nothing but confusion has hurt more than I can say.”

It’s fair enough - the least a club can do is to stay in contact with a player for the entirety of their negotiations, regardless of whether the move is going to go through or be called off - it is the club's duty to inform the player of either.

However, Megan may have overdramatised McNeil’s plight to an extent: “Football is brutal, and yes, it is the nature of the beast, but messing with human beings' feelings and emotions shouldn’t be acceptable.”

“People only see one side in the media, you don’t see the tears, the emotion and the distress I have seen tonight.”

Sure, McNeil would have been very upset at the news that he would not be travelling to Crystal Palace so late in the transfer window, but in the same vein, it’s not exactly what people would call a heartbreaker.

Footballers are paid millions every year, with many of their earnings sitting in the top 0.01% of jobs, and the least they can do when on such a bumper salary is to be able to handle some bad news.

Are Modern Footballer’s Too Soft

As fans, we worship some of these players, as they get to do what many of us dreamt of - the if they want to be treated like role models, they need to act like them, and in McNeil’s case, or more specifically in his spouse’s case, she has failed to paint him in a light reflecting this.

Football is certainly a sport that plays on people's heartstrings – every game is life or death, every ball is kicked by tens of thousands of fans, and every goal is celebrated and lamented like a recently lost family member.

So yes, we football fans are a tad dramatic, but the players we watch and follow week in and week out are supposed to be above this type of drama, supplying it to us instead of taking it upon themselves.

There is an argument that today’s batch of players are too soft - the ballers of the 90s and early 2000s would never have had their partners take to social media to post a sob story regarding their situation - if there were any complaints, it would likely be taken to the car park outside, man to man, to settle it like grown-ups.

🚨 “SHOULDN’T BE ACCEPTABLE”

💔 Dwight McNeil’s deadline-day move to Crystal Palace collapsed at the final moment — and his girlfriend has spoken out with an emotional message calling out how players are treated.

👇 Full Story in comments.#CrystalPalace #CPFC #Everton pic.twitter.com/GuCw4xJeiF

— Football Park (@FP_CentreCircle) February 3, 2026

In the modern game, sympathy is batted around all too easily, and it forces some players to lose sight of where they are at - they are all privileged enough to play footballer for a job, and for the most part, they realise how fortunate they are to be in that position.

But Anselmino’s tears at Dortmund and McNeil’s partner’s rant indicate that while many players accept the consequences without much fuss, there are always a few who pander to the masses, searching for vindication, validation, sympathy – anything, just as long as they are proven right.