Football Food For Thought / Frank Gregan / 02 September 2008 / 1

Frank Gregan looks at deadline day deals that have brought Robinho to Man City against the odds and Berbatov to Man Utd to leave the Man Utd and Spurs boards at odds with each other. Plus a round-up of the other deals that went through yesterday.

If the purchases were ordinary you could pass it off as being a bloke thing, our reluctance to buy until the very last minute. You know how it works, the look of total disappointment when your wife or girlfriend opens her pressie on Christmas morning to find a universal remote control (suitable for TV, Satellite and DVD) or a handy combination of digital clock, pen and tin opener. The all night garage at 11pm on Christmas Eve is hardly Santa's workshop and it is difficult to find something to fit the occasion. Try as we might our offering never seems to hit the spot!

It would appear that Premier League managers adopt the same approach with the scramble that is always transfer deadline day, and yesterday was no exception. The difference was the quality of the purchase, no one size fits all fleece from Texaco but the handmade cashmere sweater that is Dimitri Berbatov was being coveted by two clubs from one city. City missed out on the Cashmere sweater but had an Armani dress, Robinho, put to one side as a contingency. An expensive contingency at that!

They were audacious bids by Mark Hughes backed by the Arab money that is reported to now make City the richest club in the world and his offer of thirty million gave impetuous to a sale that seemed to be floundering. Berbatov's antics at White Hart Lane had left little doubt that his future lay elsewhere but with Manchester United unwillingly to meet Spurs' asking price something or somebody had to force the issue. The acceptance of the Man City bid sent a very firm message across the city - if you want him stump up the cash!

Sir Alex Ferguson is a shrewd operator and knows when to bite the bullet and moved swiftly to ensure that Berbatov became a red. Not to be outdone, Mark Hughes then smashes the British transfer record by forking out £32.5 million for Robinho snatching him from grasp of Chelsea. These two huge pieces of business done right at the death have overshadowed the rest of the transfer activity but there were some significant deals elsewhere.

Spurs are hoping that the void left by Berbatov can be filled by the arrival of Russian striker Roman Pavlyuchenko who they paid Spartak Moscow £14 million for and a season long loan of Manchester United's Fraizer Campbell. Marouane Fellaini joined Everton from Standard Liege for a fee of £15 million and Stoke have brought in three workman like players in Danny Higginbotham, Tom Soares and Michael Tonge. The actions of Tony Pulis may well persuade some Betfairians to look at laying Stoke not to go down at odds of [1.42].

As ever, when presents are bestowed upon football supporters as with girlfriends at Christmas there are always some that will be disappointed. Chelsea fans woke this morning to find their stockings empty and the Geordie fans that were promised that the James Milner move would pale into insignificance when the deadline signings were announced will also have been unimpressed. The arrival of Spanish striker Xisco for around £6 million and the loan signing of the Uruguayan midfielder Ignacio Gonzalez will have convinced the Newcastle faithful that their manager is currently a regular at the local seven to eleven store whilst Man City fans can look forward to many trips to Macy's and Harrods.

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1. andrea717 | 03 September 2008

   love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yeiii welcome berbatov!!!! i was really sad when i heard that kun wasn´t coming with us.. but when i hjeard this news i was almost crying.. they were happiness tears obcourse!!!jajajajaj
   

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