So, there is little over three weeks to go of the transfer window and clubs are still scrambling to sign the one quality player that will take them to the next level. Manchester City signed Sergio Aguero but still want Samir Nasri, rivals United are pushing for Wesley Sneijder, Chelsea are close to brining in “mini” Drogba, Arsenal signed Alex ‘Theo Walcott MK:II’ Oxlade-Chamberlian earlier today while Liverpool look set to begin talks with Birmingham City over the proposed transfer of Scott Dann.
Right until the final minute, nay, second of the summer and January transfer window, fans are glued to their TV screens, laptops and smart phones expectedly praying that their team will bring in a new player and while some are left disappointed, and bleary eyed, come the morning of September 1st, others can be seen jumping for joy that their team bought in a world class player, on the cheap and right at the very, very last minute.
I may be referring to Tottenham Hotspur signing Rafael Van der Vaart with that final point but it happens and it is bound to happen again this summer. It is what keeps fans up into the early hours of the morning hitting the refresh button every 30 seconds while helplessly checking the BBC Gossip column seeing which club has been linked with what player.
And while the summer months are taken up anxiously waiting for the new season to hurry itself up and get here while watching your team partake in another pointless pre-season friendly, mainly utilised for fitness, there is something about the transfer window, I don’t know, a spark if you will, that keeps the long months ticking over.
But below all the fun of the gossip pages and the discussions with mates down the pub about what your new signing will bring lives a whole different realm of evil associated with the transfer window. No, it is the tapping up of your best player, the selling of your captain following relegation or the lack of funds fans though their club had. None of these compare to the most damned entity that exists throughout every transfer window; the ITK.
That’s right, the fabled ‘In The Know’ character that pops up around the opening of the window claiming that he heard from a ‘reliable source’ that so-and-so was joining Arsenal or John Doe was set to be announced as Manchester United’s next big signing. They are the bain of every transfer window and they don’t look like they are about the leave soon which is as frustrating as it is depressing.
In fact, both go hand in hand. Whenever an ITK pops up with ‘credible information’ from the so-called ‘reliable source’, fans begin salivating at the mouths at the thought of the potential in-coming signing. The information travels through every social networking site reaching fans far and wide across the globe.
Then the inevitable depression begins to kick in and the realisation kicks back in with a stern and commandeering statement; haven’t I seen this ITK before? That hope quickly turns to frustration before a depressing aura passes over you like a wave at the beach before your bought back to reality, finally appreciating the fact that this signing won’t happen.
All anger is then vented towards the ITK who innocently proclaim ‘I’m just hearing what I’ve heard, don’t shoot the messenger’ etc. I remember when an In The Know popped up and getting so excited about a world class player could be on his way to my club but now, now it just isn’t the case. To put it simply, they are the worst things to happen to the transfer window in its illustrious history and the worst thing? They aren’t going to be going anywhere anytime soon.
Ben McAleer @BenMcAleer1