Transfer Deadline Day Nonsense

I can’t help but feel sorry for Scott Dann. He was linked with Liverpool and Arsenal, but has ended up at Blackburn and goes straight into another relegation battle. Although from Blackburn’s point of view, it is great business and it does give them a fighting chance of survival with a strong centre back partnership of Dann and Christopher Samba.

I think that Alan Hutton to Aston Villa is a deal that makes plenty of sense. Harry Redknapp has never fancied him, while Hutton has played his best football under Alex McLeish at international level when he was in charge of Scotland.

Stoke have made some good signings, in particular Peter Crouch who I think will be a good fit for the club. No relegation fears again at the Britannia this season.

Scott Parker looks good business for West Ham, £5M for a bloke of his age and no sell on potential represents good value for money. With Tom Huddlestone already at Spurs, is he really what they needed?

Arsene Wenger also went down this unusual route as well with the £10M signing of Mikel Arteta, Arteta is 29 now and will almost certainly have no sell on value. The sort of player that should suit Arsenal, but an amazing signing given Wenger’s recent track record.

A few weeks back I’d have given QPR no chance of staying up, but with signings like Joey Barton, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Anton Ferdinand they have given themselves vital premier league experience and a more than fighting chance of survival.

Everton signed an Argentinian forward by the name of Denis Stracqualurs, South Americans have a track record of not hitting the ground running in England. So in letting Yakubu and Beckford go, is David Moyes taking a big risk in the striking department?

Although Everton lost Arteta, on a positive note they managed to keep Phil Jagielka, Leighton Baines and Jack Rodwell. They should be comfortable this season, but will other big names start to wonder just where their careers are going (or not going) at the club soon? 

Loan moves for Nicklas Bendtner to Sunderland and David Bentley to West Ham, my, how the mighty egos have fallen. Where next for these two? The scrapheap I suggest if they don’t pull their fingers out – especially Bentley.

It could be a bit of a master stroke for Sunderland though, Steve Bruce knows Bendtner from their time together at Birmingham and he strikes me as the sort of bloke who will do a decent job if he plays every week, as opposed to his time at Arsenal, where he was in and out of the side every week.

As for Bentley, I wonder if the penny is ever going to drop for this bloke. He seems happy to make a living out of football while doing nothing. He has been in England squads previously, but doesn’t seem remotely interested these days from what I can see.

Of the transfers that didn’t happen and I can’t believe Spurs turned down £40M for Luka Modric, he isn’t worth anything near that and will probably cut an unhappy figure at White Hart Lane, before moving for far less next summer, or maybe even in January.

Gary Cahill, didn’t go anywhere and will probably make Bolton pay for not cashing in on him. I can’t see him being worth much more than £3-4M in January and unless he gets an unbelievable offer in the January window, he might as well stay put and leave on a free next summer.

If ever there was a player that fitted the Arsenal profile, it was surely Cahill. Technically gifted, comfortable on the ball, surely he has all the attributes that Arsene Wenger looks for in his signings. Maybe Wenger will go back in for him in January and offer £500,000 and a couple of jelly beans.