The media circus is well and truly in the Big Top today as I write with the closing of the August transfer window only 11 hours away and ticking. SKY Sports News, which I can only cope with watching in small chunks, is reporting that Alan Smith may be on the move from Newcastle. Apparently their reasoning behind this is that they have film of him on his mobile phone this morning, damning evidence indeed, although if he does move between now and midnight then I'll pretend I never wrote this. Another day has been added on to the transfer window too this year which must be like a drug to the media, 24 more hours of conjecture and rumour mongering for them before they have to go through a little bit of cold turkey for four months until January. That's because they only seem to have any interest in the Premier League though, whereas for us we can get back on the loan signings gossip train only a week on. In these days though it would seem at the top level of the game there are as many loan signings as there are permanent signings, with a lot of those loan deals having a buy out clause at the end of the season spell. The best ones for me being transfers where Club A buys someone off Club B and then immediately loans them out to Club C, either to give the player further first-team experience or to get them that all elusive EU passport. Carlos Vela at Arsenal is perhaps one of the most prime examples of the EU passport game and what we would probably best be calling, working the system. The 19-year old Mexican was bought by Arsene Wenger for £2.5 million in November 2005. Vela then being loaned out to Celta Vigo in Spain the following February due to English work permit restrictions for non-EU citizens. UD Salamanca, was his next port of call, due to the link up Arsenal have with the Spanish club. Although only 2 non-EU players are allowed in the Spanish Segunda division so Arsenal's plan to use them as a feeder club for EU passports will have to be a slow drip-feed. A spell at Osasuna then followed last season before he was finally granted a work permit in May 2008 to allow him to play in England. So just that one deal shows you the world of difference between transfers at the very highest level and at our level in League One. Sign a 16-year old from Mexico for £2.5 million and then loan him out in Spain before he finally makes his first-team Premier League debut for you almost three years after you actually signed him. It kind of makes one month loan signings look a bit sick in comparison really. You are forced to wonder where bringing these young players in from all over the world will leave the England team in a few years. Arsenal aren't the only guilty party though, my personal bugbear club on this is Liverpool, only today they have signed yet another 18-year old Brazilian, that being Vitor Flora from Botafogo. Oh, and surprise, surprise, he has an Italian passport, I never knew that so many Brazilians were actually from Greece or Italy. You only have to take a look at the mammoth first-team profiles section on the Liverpool website, a rather extensive list that has 61 players in it. Sadly only 16 of those players are eligible to play for England, that's right 16, just over a quarter. Which kind of makes you wonder where the fans are coming from when they complain about having foreign owners while being happy to watch a team that is far more foreign than English. On the subject of foreign ownership in the Premier League the financial basket-case that is Manchester City would seem to be starting a new chapter today (Monday). The catchily-titled Abu Dhabi United Group for Development having apparently agreed a £150m takeover of the Citizens, with that man Dr Thaksin Shinawatra seemingly set to take a back seat on the board. Shinawatra perhaps sitting at the director's table in a Monsieur LeClerc from Allo Allo type disguise as he tries to avoid the Thai Supreme Court warrant that was issued last month for his arrest on alleged corruption charges. The one good thing about an Abu Dhabi based takeover though is that it's nice to know that those massive oil profits are going somewhere useful, the latest line being that Manchester City have just reportedly offered Spurs over £30 million for Dimitar Berbatov, the mind boggles. |