This time of year is one of the juiciest in any football fan's calendar. I spend my time trawling the backs of newspapers, blogs, websites and of course Sky Sports News! Harry Redknapp is surely going to be sitting in a Range Rover next to his, somewhat, mute assistant manager giving the cockney spiel to some freezing reporter who has been waiting for hours for some meaty gossip! The glamorous news readers will be pouting their way through the next month ready to give the story that will shock, astound and delight people around the country!
The biggest coup so far has to be Gary Cahill's move from Bolton to Chelsea for an understated £7million. A player who could barely hold down a starting birth at Aston Villa, but has come into his own at Bolton single handedly dragging them out of the dirt it seems and after getting his first few England caps will be a super defensive partner for John Terry that the blues have been craving since the departure of Ricardo Carvalho in 2010. The way Arsenal tore them apart earlier in the season was so uncharacteristic and was a far cry from the unpenetrable team of Mourinho's reign at the Bridge.
Staying with Arsenal, I can't even begin to decide who, what and where needs strengthening this January. They have been decimated by injury but it seems that the squad as a whole just cannot cope with even a slight crisis. I bet Arsene Wenger would happily take Messi on a free, or Neymar for £2million, but will probably end up buying a 2 year old Belgian attacking midfielder, who is "the next big thing"!
I do love the whole excitement of it all. I get the same feeling that I felt at Christmas in the late 80s and early 90s. One of wonder, excitement and even magic. The last minute dealings of last year with Torres and Carroll moving on was fantastic. Totally worth being sat on the couch all day with supplies like I was locked in some sort of panic room.
I can't see Manchester City doing that much business to be honest. The team is flying and even the loss of the Toure's to the African Nations cup, will just be absorbed by their outstanding squad. Maybe they could grab that big name in central defence that can partner Kompany, who is looking like a Premier League great already, years before the big guy reaches his prime.
Tottenham will spend their time trying to hang on to Bale, Modric and Defoe like rabid dogs on leads chasing a cat with Harry flying along behind, leads in hand. My bet would be Defoe moving to somewhere, maybe Liverpool. The reds looked like world beaters on paper at the beginning of the season but as the old cliche goes; "the game isn't played on paper". The Suarez situation was not dealt with very well and has been an untimely distraction for the team, with a £35million Andy Carroll looking like a sunday league thug that couldn't hit a banjo with a cow...or something like that.
With Manchester United waiting quietly in the wings to snap up the next Phil Jones, they are always dangerous at this time of year. Somehow they pull out the millions of pounds even though the club are in massive debt. Not being proficiant in accountancy I'm not quite sure how that works, but Ferguson seems to get away with it time and time again. The lower teams in the division will be scrounging for that bargain and I think january 31st will be one to watch this year!
Here's to crisps, big bottles of Coke, pouty presenters, helicopters, drama and of course Jim white. The silver haired, scottish, transfer deadline day GOD!! Bring it on!
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