Clubs face early season struggles as transfer windows near closure

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Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now! Release clauses. War chests. Amortisation. Transfer requests. Surplus to requirements. Online meltdowns. Agents. Gazumping. Buy-back clauses. Options. Add-ons. Personal terms. Soft approaches. Grifters. Clickbait. Lowball bids. In The Knows. Serious bids. Super agents. Hijacked bids. Agreements in principle. Medicals. Undisclosed fees. Part exchanges. Deal sheets. Here we gos! Done deals. Some busker strumming a guitar in the Sky Sports News studio while reminiscing about Deadline Days passim through the medium of song. No really, some busker strumming a guitar in the Sky Sports News studio while etc, and so on. After a near relentless onslaught of media buzzwords, hype and assorted reputable (and thoroughly disreputable) transfer insiders announcing they “understand” things, the summer transfer window is finally shut. But what’s that Football Daily can see pressed up against the glass? The out-of-joint nose of an apoplectic David Moyes. If you’d told me back in the golden era of Serie A in the 1990s that it would eventually become a dumping ground for underperforming (or past their best in the case of John Stones) Premier League players, judging by Tuesday’s front page of La Gazzetta dello Sport, then I wouldn’t have believed you. And if you’d told me in January that Donyell Malen, who scored seven goals in 35 Premier League games for Aston Villa before going on loan to Roma, would already be on 19 goals in 20 Serie A games, I definitely wouldn’t have believed you” – Noble Francis. Looks like Argentina have lined up James Maddison to replace Lionel Messi. That is if a street artist in Mumbai (yesterday’s Quote of the Day) can be believed” – Vaughan Wilkinson. Continue reading...

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Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now! Before we get going, a reminder to join our team of writers for all the latest transfer deadline day updates before the window slams shut (in most major leagues) at 11pm BST. Get on it. As probably the greatest player in history has announced his retirement from international football, I’d like to do likewise. Sure, the ingrates never picked me, overlooking my abilities through several World Cups and Euros, but I feel that, like Messi, the time has come to finally hang up my … ah, hopes of a call-up. But never say never, eh? Look all that happened when the little maestro changed his mind last time around! So, yes, I could still be talked out of this decision, should my country decide they need me. Thank you and …goodbye. For now, at least” – Justin Kavanagh. Early days but Emi Martínez’s transfer for £7.5m seems like the bargain of the season. OK, he let in three against Brighton but saved many more and transformed Chelsea’s defence. I wonder how much they could sell Robert Sánchez on for? I predict, probably much more than £7.5m” – Nigel Sanders. So August has just ended and my household is already in a contest to see ‘who can have the most miserable season’, which should cheer up anyone whose pre-season optimism has had an early blow. Me: Luton – one win from three in League One with 10 goals conceded. My wife and son: Spurs – say no more. My other son: West Ham – one win from three in the Championship. It’s going to be a long nine months” – Kevin Goddard. This is an extract from our daily football email … Football Daily. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions. Continue reading...