Half-cocked, arrogant and stupid. That’s our window
THE hero of the transfer window now passed? Not Daniel Levy or Ed Woodward; not Marina Granovskaia, or any of the self- styled executive players riding the crest of the richest league in the world.
Diego Godin’s agent. Smartest guy in the room. It was he who, as the clock ticked down, spied an opportunity to exploit and expose the foolishness of English football’s early closure and use that to the full.
He put in a call to Manchester United. Ridiculous, panicking Manchester United, unable to land a suitable centre half, given the summer to do so.
Would they, he asked, be interested in his client — a player who, at 32, had not played a single one of his 576 games for a club outside a Spanish-speaking country and had turned down Manchester City three years ago? United, with options and time fast running out, said they would.
And so the story leaked that United were in for Godin, and the agent was able to go to Godin’s club, Atletico Madrid, and say he had interest from Old Trafford, meaning his client got what he wanted all along: which was a new, improved contract with Atletico worth approximately £6.74million a year.
Oh, well played, sir (or madam, considering Godin’s sister, Lucia, is also part of his management team). But, really, it was too easy, wasn’t it?
So did the transfer window bring down agents’ cuts and transfer fees? No.
Did it prevent the ghastly, inflationary last-minute pandemonium? No. Did it stop Tottenham unsettling a young player at another club after his season had started? No. Will it prevent further uncertainty going forward until the end of August, at least? No. Is your squad your squad? No.
Was it the stupidest, most arrogant, poorly conceived, halfcocked, half-baked, hare-brained scheme, ever concocted by a group of supposedly competent individuals? Yes, yes, a thousand times yes.
Take Chelsea. They sold a goalkeeper to Real Madrid for £35m and bought one from Athletic Bilbao for £71.6m. Fine. That happens. Clubs upgrade and it costs.
Except the goalkeeper Chelsea have sold, Thibaut Courtois, has made 65 international appearances, played 47 times in Europe, reached a World Cup semi-final, played in a Champions League final, won two European trophies, won the league in England and Spain, been named goalkeeper of the year in Belgium, Spain and England, won the World Cup Golden Glove and made a Champions League team of the season.
And the goalkeeper they have paid double the money for, Kepa Arrizabalaga, has never played in Europe, never won a trophy at senior level and has played once for Spain.
When David de Gea’s form began to falter in Russia this summer, there was no question of promoting Arrizabalaga. He was considered too raw. And, as we know, Courtois wanted out. That is not Chelsea’s fault. What is their fault is that they voted for a system that left them short of time, meaning the premium they paid for his replacement was ludicrously inflationary and a world record. Last year, Chelsea could have waited, negotiated, picked through options, taken their time. Even if Rob Green had started against Huddersfield on Saturday it would not have been the worst.
Instead, they have paid top dollar for a novice.
Tottenham, meanwhile, have become the first Premier League club since the summer window was introduced in 2003 not to buy a player. They could have taken Jack Grealish when the window opened and Aston Villa were in turmoil, but chose not to, because chairman Levy is too in love with his reputation for driving the hardest bargain.
Yet by the time it got to bargain day, Villa had new owners who didn’t need the cash. So, again, the truncated window — which Tottenham supported — did nothing to make Levy act earlier, as presumed. He still left it to the last minute, but with little of his