It’s Transfer Deadline Day, which is also the most dangerous time in European football and deserves its own public holiday.
Two of the biggest transfers to have taken place was Juan Mata’s £37.1million move from Chelsea to United, and Yohan Cabaye from Newcastle to PSG yesterday. Another high-profile transfer is that of Diego Forlan to J-League club, Cerezo Osaka, for a record-breaking fee.
Osaka, the club where Shinji Kagawa earning his stripes, will pay Forlan an estimated annual wage of 600 million yen ($5.8 million), according to local reports.
Surely, this move defies all logic, except for the fact that Forlan may be past his prime and does not see himself playing a pivotal role at the World Cup in Brazil this year. So of course, there was no better option than Asia (or the States!)
Indeed, deadline day for many agents and clubs is sort of like being the last butcher shop in town full of zombies – phones will be off the hook and crooks will be tapping at the door.
Harry Redknapp’s frantic £20m spending spree at QPR last year, which failed to save them from relegation, was also seen as a bit of a running joke. If that wasn’t enough, it also prompts crazy behaviour – if you remember, Marouane Felliani drove himself from Liverpool to Manchester in his pyjamas last year, and there was nothing David Moyes could do except give the lad a contract!
The fact is this transfer window encourages more ‘last minute’ sales than any other period. It’s sort of like walking into a shoe store barefoot and buying the first thing you see. There’s no time to check it extensively, because you need something to cover your feet quickly, please!
An interesting article on the BBC quoted Ian Holloway, who briefly managed Blackpool and Crystal Palace in the Premier League. He said transfer windows were “utter madness” and lead to “the headlong hurtling into deals to rescue dreams”. More interestingly, he said they “encouraged knee-jerk reactions, inflated transfer fees and wages and minimal planning and background checks.”
