REMEMBER being told the transfer window would be quiet this summer because so many clubs were still hard-up after the pandemic?
Well they must have found a lot of loose change down the back of the sofa, seeing the Premier League alone had spent over £1.5 BILLION come Thursday’s deadline.
Some of those are already nailed on to be a big success, and Erling Haaland looks the best business anyone has done – or will do for a long time.
We already knew he was something special. But two hat-tricks and nine goals already? That’s just ridiculous.
Gabriel Jesus has had a flying start at Arsenal, I love Marc Cucurella, the left back Chelsea have signed, and Wesley Fofana is a great centre back – even if he has come at a price.
But as a manager, you can’t beat getting someone for peanuts and them turning out to be a real diamond.
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Especially when they weren’t really on your radar to start with.
I was lucky enough to find a few like that over the years, but the one who really stands out was a guy I took to Portsmouth on loan after being told we had no chance.
I’d first come across Andres D’Alessandro five years earlier, when I was at West Ham and went to watch Frank Lampard and Rio Ferdinand for England Under 20s against Argentina.
They had this little No10 who was the best player on the pitch.
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Frank told me he was scared to go near him because he got nutmegged every time he got close.
At the time Joe Cole was just coming through, who was the best schoolboy I’d ever seen, and the chairman wouldn’t spend £3million or £4million on another kid, so nothing happened.
But in 2006 I bumped into an agent called Barry McIntosh, who looked after the lad, and asked about a loan, because he’d gone to Wolfsburg for big money and we couldn’t afford him.
Barry laughed it off… but a few weeks later rang and said it could happen.
So we got him in on January 31, and what a move that was.
When D’Alessandro turned up it was pouring down and Fratton Park was ankle deep in mud.
He was only a skinny lad, scrawny little legs, and we were playing Bolton the following day.
I told the staff I was putting him straight in and they thought I was mad.
He had a blinder, got a standing ovation and kept us up that season.
Mind you, there were a couple of others who were brilliant for us as well.
One of whom I never even considered.
I was going to sign Pedro Mendes and Sean Davis from Spurs, and Daniel Levy threw in Noe Pamarot as well.
It was like buy two get one free… all for £7 million.
We were right in trouble when those lot arrived, and we ended up surviving.
It’s great when you take a gamble and it pays off…but it’s not always the way.
It still makes me cringe to think of the time I wanted to sign Peter Odemwingie for QPR and West Brom were playing hard ball.
The deadline was only a few hours away, and we still hadn’t discussed terms, so I told him to come down to London in case we got something sorted quickly.
I thought he’d check into a hotel near the ground…I certainly didn’t expect him to park up round the corner, with TV cameras all over the place.
That was that as far as it went in terms of signing him. I’ve seen him a few times since and he’s a lovely lad…it just wasn’t the wisest place he’s ever parked the car!
IT’S JUST A START, ART
THERE’S no doubt Arsenal have got off to a great start, and they look best placed to make the most of it if Chelsea keep dropping silly points.
But I won’t be jumping on the bandwagon with those who are already saying they’re certs for a top four finish. Not just yet, anyway.
Yes, they’ve done well so far, but only against sides you’d fancy them to roll over. And only by the skin of their teeth in some cases.
Let’s see how Arsenal cope when they have a real test, and there’s no doubt today’s game at Manchester United is a huge one.
Pass that one with flying colours, and a few more besides, and it’ll be time to get excited. Until then, just keep those corks in the bottle, eh.
RICH’S RIGHT UP FOR IT
WHEN Spurs signed Richarlison I was worried what his attitude would be like if he wasn’t in the team.
And with Harry Kane and Son Heung-min around, he wasn’t going to be.
But at the moment he’s been a bundle of energy coming off the bench, and that keepy-up business at Nottingham Forest is just his way.
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A couple of Forest lads had already tried to boot him before he started taking the mick, and that was his way of saying “sod ‘em!”
Although if he’d tried that against Stuart Pearce, they’d have been picking him up from the back of the stand.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
