Transfer Deadline Day Drama

Coffee's ready and so are some snacks. I find myself a comfy bean-bag, place my laptop on me and I'm browsing the net for the latest transfers going through on the transfer-deadline day.

Ah! transfer-deadline day! It should be a public holiday for people like me who consider football a religion. India is 4 and a half hours ahead of BST right now and so, it'll be 430am before I go to bed. So far this TDD (Transfer Deadline Day) has been nothing short of drama. This morning it seemed the only questions were whether Man Utd would finally get Berbatov (very likely) and would Chelsea manage signing Robinho before the deadline (not so likely). That was it. There was a little interest in Arsenal's revelation of tracking a couple of signings, but knowing Arsenal, this would mean a couple of young unknowns who'd become superstars in a couple of years. But that was it at the start of today.

But now, things have gone haywire what with some Arab group taking over Man City and sending all the equations and stability at the Market haywire. They've now been reported to have bid for Berbatov, Aguerro, Robinho to name a few. Yeah, I remember the group's name: Abu Dhabi United Group! Now, while typing in this report, I keep switching my tabs on my firefox browser, checking out sportinglife's minute-by-minute updates and BBC Sport's live reports as well. Add to this frantic text messages my co-insomniac football-crazy friends are sending me regarding the transfers and you get a tenth of what's happening at TDD. Either way, this is nothing short of a soap opera. It sure has all the ingredients: drama, twist, hero (Berbatov), villain (Man City), Side-Kick (Robinho), family (Man Utd), romance (Man Utd - Berbatov)! And things keep getting weirder as we hear that City's bid for the Bulgarian has been accepted but he's busy giving a medical at United. I wonder whether they've been even given the permission to do that.

City's new takeover has certainly put a complete twist to this TDD and, for a neutral, which I am not, it's fun. I seem to remember TDD drama last season when Gallas and Cole swapped just before midnight and the deal was announced minutes after midnight. I thought that was sensational back then...but things have changed since then. Now Aguerro has been spotted at Manchester, the blue side probably being his target, but you never know!

I flip through the tabs again. Nothing new. This Transfer Window has been strange in another way as well. The "transfers that didn't happen". We heard and read speculation after boring speculation and tiresome interview after another about Ronaldo moving to Real, Barry going to Liverpool, Robinho switching to Chelsea, Arshavin signing for Spurs. But it all seems to have been in vain. None of them, despite such strong possibilities and player desires have left. All of them have had to stay. This tells you of something else too. The power of the club over the player. Yeah, the "slave issue" again. All the aforementioned players pleaded for a transfer but their club commitment was enforced and they had no choice but to stay. There used to be a time when a team would fain retain an unwilling player, but things sure have changed now!

I flip through the tabs yet again. Now there's some rumor that links Joey Barton with Portsmouth and Heskey with Villa. Another couple of surprises. But you never know about the veracity of these statements, people do get over-excited on TDD. I'm just getting slightly sleepy as I sip on from my mug of coffee. It's time for a break from all this reading and writing. I think I'll just watch some tennis for a while. Enjoy the conclusion of the TDD. And let's hope there are more shockers in store for us!

Cheers and goodnight!