How World Cup influenced busy transfer window for Canadian men's team

And breathe.

One of the most absorbing, frustrating and exciting (can all those things be true?) transfer windows in recent memory closed on Monday. For the Canadian men’s national team, it was an extremely active end to a busy off-season.

The key term, and one we will continue to hear throughout the next number of months, is "playing time." That is why Derek Cornelius was on the move yesterday, joining Rangers in Scotland. The same can be said for Cyle Larin, who moved to the Netherlands’ Feyenoord, and Jamie Knight-Lebel, who is now a Swindon Town player for the season. It was why Ismael Kone joined Sassuolo earlier this summer and why Tajon Buchanan turned his loan at Villarreal into something permanent.

Playing time is something Tani Oluwaseyi bet on when he crossed the Atlantic, leaving a starting position at Minnesota United to join Buchanan at Villarreal and battle to earn minutes.

So what’s the big deal with playing time? Why is it different this season than any other? The answer is obvious — the World Cup.

National team managers need their footballers to play meaningful minutes. A player who is buried on the bench every week is no use at all. It is why there are so many loan deals this year. Buying clubs may not be able to afford exactly what they want or need, or selling clubs may not be prepared to give up on a talent just yet, but that talent demands minutes.

In the case of Canada, there is finally some competition for places, something coach Jesse Marsch has been adamant he needs to build since taking over. In seasons past, for example, a player such as Larin would have been confident of his starting place on the national team, no matter how much football he was playing. These days, he has the likes of Promise David scoring regularly in Belgium and very much knocking on the door for selection alongside Jonathan David. Larin, with so much experience, so many goals (second only to David in Canadian history) and still with the trust of his national team manager, is well aware that nothing can be taken for granted. Since Jagoba Arrasate replaced Javier Aguirre as Mallorca coach last season, the writing seemed to be on the wall for Larin.

He now joins a Feyenoord side that has started the season perfect after three matches. Robin Van Persie — the legendary Dutch, Arsenal and Manchester United striker — is the man at the helm, and was clearly a huge reason Larin chose the club, despite the fact that he will need to earn every minute given the strength of the team.

Cornelius found himself as one of the many whipping boys at the toxic Marseille. Roberto De Zerbi had relied on the centre back for most of last season, but he was clearly not in the feisty Italian’s plans for this season. Probably for the best, as in-fighting and controversy had marred the start of the Ligue 1 season for Marseille. Cornelius joins a Rangers team that is still reeling from a 9-1 aggregate loss to Club Brugge in Champions League qualifying. Despite an extremely active transfer deadline day, Rangers still appear to be fighting for a distant second place behind the dominant Celtic in Scotland. Is it a drop down from France to Scotland for Corenlius? Yes, absolutely, but Rangers are a massive club, and starting minutes will benefit both the player and Canada.

Speaking to the media last week, Marsch mentioned that much of his recent time has been spent helping engineer transfers for his players. As such, it is likely that each of his players' transfer window moves comes with the seal of approval from their national team gaffer. If minutes are indeed the most important element for a footballer in a World Cup year, then Marsch must be confident that each new club is a better fit for his players than their former clubs.

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