Much like the World Cup, Champions League and FA Cup finals, transfer deadline day is another date in the diary football fans put under the ‘not to be missed’ section.
From Torres to Chelsea for £50million, Carroll to Liverpool for £35million and Robinho to Man City for £32.5million, deadline day brings bags of excitement and British record deals. It seems that managers quietly make their way through the summer, holidaying abroad as if the transfer window isn’t open. Then come the final few days, they all go mad.
So it begs the question, why do clubs leave important deals until the final few hours of the transfer market? To excite the fans? To feed the media’s long list of rumours? Presumably it is to try and get the best deal possible for their club. If a club wants to sell a player, then they are surely to drop the price if a bid comes in late on, as there would be little time to negotiate.
Managers could follow Sir Alex Ferguson’s lead and get their targets early on, meaning more time for the team to gel, and less panic in each January and August deadline days. However it seems the same format every year.
The Sky Sports News dominance of deadline day wouldn’t be complete without their line ‘Breaking transfer news reaching us all the time’, or the hundred strong team of reporters outside all the grounds up and down the country, or the perennial 5 minute inside interview with Harry Redknapp perched in his beloved Range Rover on his way out of Tottenham’s training ground.
It turns into quite a struggle trying to keep up with the Sky Sports breaking news yellow banner, as well as the multiple websites trying to keep us posted. Yet this is why we love deadline day. The rush, the news and the excitement is what keeps all fans hooked.
Here’s to hoping that Southampton manage to bring in Wayne Rooney and Gary Cahill. Our bench could do with some slight improvements. However this is deadline day, who knows what could happen.
Harry Hunt @HarryHunt92