The football transfer window has lost its fun factor

The thrill has gone.

Sky Sports Peter Odemwingie famously turned up at QPR's training ground thinking his move was about to happen... it did not.

I can’t be the only one who thinks the football transfer window has lost its lustre. Back in its heyday the period where teams could bring in new players was filled with intrigue and more drama than you could shake a corner flag at.

Sports reporters were stationed outside stadiums waiting for a sneak-peek of a player being whisked in for a medical. Helicopters were landing at training grounds with fresh faced signings stepping out to greet new managers.

You’d even hear the odd fake social media tale of someone’s cab driving grandad taking <insert player name> to <insert football club>.

The transfer window, and especially the Deadline Day™, was a big occasion on the football fan’s calendar.

But now the whole thing has become very corporate, very predictable and, well, very boring.

Ering Haaland holding the Borussia Dortmund shirt during his unveiling.

Borussia Dortmund Erling Haaland's move was protracted, but ultimately a damp squib in terms of excitement.

Under the radar

Take this January 2020 transfer window. Barely any of the English Premier League teams have done any business at all. And the ones that have, including Liverpool signing the exciting Takumi Minamino, was completed months in advance and announced with little fanfare.

Obviously, this is the right way to do things for clubs - behind the scenes without alerting rival teams. However, for the armchair fan there’s nothing to help shuffle them towards the edge of their seat.

It could be down to the reluctance of clubs to spend big bucks in a perilous economy. Or perhaps it’s that the will he/won’t he drama has become incredibly predictable? It’s not totally beyond the realms of possibility that Manchester United’s ill-advised theatrical introduction of high profile flop, Alexis Sanchez is the reason teams prefer to do things low-key these days.

Either way the thrill of the transfer window has already walked down the tunnel.

Still, as we type, there’s a bit of time left before it slams shut again until the summer. There could be a much needed spark of creativity to ignite our love for the transfer window again. But nothing short of a trio of new centre-backs parachuting down to a Premier League pitch in formation will do.

View All

[726]

Style Life Culture

Under the radar

Read Next