FFP killing deadline TV drama
FINANCIAL Fair Play appears to have killed the January transfer window.
A year ago, Prem clubs spent £815million in the winter sales.
Fast-forward 12 months and investment is down to less than £80m.
I wouldn’t be surprised to still see some late business getting done.
But it’s clear that the merciless way the Premier League enforce their profit and sustainability rules has clubs running scared.
Is the game poorer for it? Well, clubs voted for financial checks and balances to be brought in, so they are getting exactly what they wanted.
But Everton feel they have grounds to appeal their 10-point deduction for failing PSR – and the Goodison club now face more accusations along with Nottingham Forest.
The 115 allegations laid against Manchester City have hung like a cloud over the club.
And the fact many of them go back to a period when the league had not even introduced financial rules illustrates that City’s case could have deeper ramifications.
But the fact clubs now appear to be paralysed in the transfer market suggests to me that the system needs readjusting.
Money makes the game go around and what is the point in having the richest league if you can’t make that wealth work?
The transfer window should be a time when fans look to the future.
Watching the last few hours of the transfer deadline unfold on Sky Sports has become a tradition, going back to when Jim White wore his famous yellow tie, with reporters stationed outside various training grounds.
But now maybe we’ll all have to find different television viewing on Thursday night.