Apparently, if the move to November/December is approved, the World Cup will happen in the middle of the European season, much like it normally does for clubs in the US, who’s season runs during those Summer months in which the World Cup usually occurs.
What will be interesting to watch, however, is how teams try and strategically maneuver to gain an advantage for those weeks of their season. Not that I think teams would necessarily divest themselves of players would they would lose during the World Cup, it’s not enough of the schedule to try and do without that level of talent, but I think there could be some interesting transfer discussions. Normally, the Summer window is the more active, with the January window being more talk than actual transfers. I think that could switch in 2022. Teams might be interested in holding off that big international transfer and hang on to a slighty less, but still very talented player who would be with them during the Cup instead of letting them walk, then make the actual transfer in January, when they will not be on the hook for playing without either player for a month.
Again, the time period of the World Cup is not significant enough that I think teams will make huge changes in how they operate because of this. However, I think some teams will be making a handful of choices with that in mind, and that will be interesting to see. A few extra points in that part of the season could be the difference between playing in Europe in 2023 or not. Those Champions and Europa League matches bring in some serious money for teams. Smart ones will do what they can to ensure they get them, including figuring out the best way to deal with an in-season World Cup, but it’ll be fun to see who loses points during that time, and how those lost points impact their place in the table.
Photo by warrenski 
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