No matter how meticulously a Brazilian coach prepares for the new season, his plans can be wrecked in an instant by the international transfer window.

Brazil exported a record 1,085 professional players this year, according to the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF).

In addition to the traditional destinations such as Spain, Italy and Portugal, players headed for places as unlikely as Guatemala, Surinam, Vietnam and Armenia.

The trade is often lucrative for Brazilian clubs and a successful move can give the players a chance to achieve financial independence for themselves and their families.
For the coaches of the 20 first division clubs, already working in one of the most volatile markets in the football world, it is a major headache, however.

"In the old days, the boy was born and his dream was to play football and to play for Brazil," said Alexandre Gallo, coach of first division Figueirense, during an international football forum in Rio de Janeiro.

"Today, the boy is born and he dreams of becoming a footballer so he can turn professional and be sold to a club in Europe. The dream has changed."
The Brazilian season runs from mid-January to early December while the European transfer window opens in January and again in July.

This means that most players depart either during pre-season training or halfway through the Brazilian championship.

"The first thing a coach has to know is the dates of the international transfer window," Ney Franco, coach of Atletico Paranaense, told an audience at the same forum.
"No matter how much you work and plan in December, you always have the risk that two or three players you had counted on will not be there when pre-season training starts."

"This is a problem for all the Brazilian clubs, even the ones with the best structure and more money." Franco said negotiations often went on without the knowledge of the coach.

"The coach is sometimes the last one to know. The player is taken out of a training session because he has to sign some paperwork and when the coach asks what happened, he's told that the player has been sold.

Former Gremio coach Mano Menezes illustrated the problem with his line-ups from two different matches played less than two months apart. In that time, five key players departed, including striker Carlos Eduardo, who was sold to a German second division club.

 "I think we need to change the season so it coincides with Europe," he said. "Then the effects would not be as serious."

"The transfer window is a Sword of Damocles hanging over the coach."