A football. Photo credit: Ro/Lu
Make no mistake, what happens on transfer deadline day can make or break a club’s fortunes. As he clock ticks down to the 23.00 deadline tonight, football fans across England are glued to Sky Sports News and the many live blogs to see who are the last-minute movers and shakers in the transfer window. As gossip reaches fever pitch, here is the run-down of the big deals widely forecast to be inked on deadline day.
- Arsenal bringing in new (desperately-needed) artillery. Arsenal’s humiliating 8-2 thumping at the hands of rivals Manchester United on Sunday underlined the north London’s urgent need for reinforcements in the wake of the loss of Gael Clichy, Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri. So it’s little surprise that under-pressure Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is on the blower today. To shore up his leaky defence, Wenger is expected to bring in experienced German stopper Per Mertesaker and exciting young Brazilian defender Andre Santos. Wenger is also expected to raid his old club Monaco for striker Park Chu-young. “Arsenal seem to have taken a leaf out of Tottenham’s book and they are currently casting about the market. They have three bites in the shape of Per Mertesacker, Park Chu-young and André Santos and plenty more fish in the sea. The biggest ones, though are expensive; Yann M’Vila, Marvin Martin, Mikel Arteta, Eden Hazard,” reported The Guardian’s David Hytner.
- QPR are the big market movers. Since Tony Fernandes’ sensational take-over of Queens Park Rangers, the superhoops have been linked with pretty much every player supposedly available. In recent days, QPR have signed Joey Barton (from Newcastle), Armand Traore (Arsenal) and Luke Young (Aston Villa) and the spending spree doesn’t look likely to stop. QPR are likely to sign Shaun Wright-Phillips, who is out-of-favour at Manchester City, Sunderland’s Anton Ferdinand and have been heavily linked with Welsh winger Craig Bellamy.
“Love deadline day. Would love to watch it unfold on SSN – but shopping for tiles!!!” tweeted QPR player Shaun Derry.
- Manchester City hope to resurrect crock Hargreaves’ career. In one of the stranger deadline day deals, the Citizens are expected to sign former Manchester United player Owen Hargreaves. Although the player has hardly played in recent seasons due to serious injuries to both knees, City are very keen to bring in Hargreaves, who once cost United £17 million. It’s almost as if City want to prove that their physio team are better than their cross-town rivals. Henry Winter of The Daily Telegraph argued that the signing is not entirely misguided: “Note to City fans: If the midfielder can prove that his knees have recovered from that brutal invasion called tendinitis, that his hamstrings, calves and adductor muscles will not collapse from the intense secondary pressure, then you have a gem. Even aged 30, even with all leave cancelled at the nearest casualty, Hargreaves is worth a gamble.”
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- Wheeler-dealer Redknapp up to his old tricks. Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp is renowned for his prowess in the transfer market and he’s clearly putting in some calls today. Spurs are expected to ink a deal for England midfielder Scott(ie) Parker, who has been linked with a host of clubs since his club (West Ham) were relegated last season. A deal for Parker has become all the more likely since Lass Diarra’s wage demands scuppered a potential deal to bring the French piano-mover to White Hart Lane. Spurs are also said to be very interested in signing Bolton’s highly-rated centre-back Gary Cahill but will need to shift some deadwood to free up funds.
