A Look At Winter Transfer Window

[The Mac]

With the January transfer window descending towards its usual month end closing, one thing that's in the ascendency is the market value and latent demand from various Barclays Premier League clubs for highest caliber goal scoring talent. This vapor hot like activity is most certainly not the exclusive domain of those at the right end of the table as we head full steam towards the business end of the season.

The winter window is normally a docile trading period where ordinarily the alpha listed guns are not for hire and invariably come with the caveat of being cup tied for the European competitions. In stark contrast, this January has certainly not been a hibernating period for either Sheik Mansour or Randy Lerner, having splashed the cash earlier in the month on Edin Dzeko and Darren Bent respectively. Dzeko tipped the scales at £27m with a sum upwards of £24m payable in return for an Englishman who didn't even make it to South Africa last summer.

Casting a watchful eye over those proceedings from the comfort of their windmill has been Ajax who earlier in the week pushed back Liverpool's pursuit of prime asset Luis Suarez. Refusing to budge from their asking price of £21m Ajax tagged Liverpool's initial offer of £12.7m as ‘disrespectful'. For this particular January market the words ‘delusional of Liverpool' seem more appropriate. Having felt disrespected the Dutch club then bluntly reminded the Boston based Anfield ownership group of very recent price points paid for similar used goods. As back up to their pricing model Ajax have the Uruguayan's cheats and feats from South Africa to refer to.

Just yesterday the Amsterdamsters placed an expiry date of January 29th for concluding any deal for Suarez, further advising that the price would increase in multiples of €5m for each day there after. Famed for inventing Total Football back in the early 1970's Ajax have rebranded themselves as the pioneers of Raised Stakes Soccer. Moral of the story for NESV, if you've decided to invest in a globally framed billionaire's playground you best book an appointment with the International Monetary Fund prior to jetting in for soccer's very own version of the World Series of Poker.

From the sublime to the truly ridiculous, what to make of the claim from Madrid, denied indirectly by the English Champions, that Atletico had rejected Chelsea's bid for Diego Maradona's son-in-law Sergio Aguero, whose goals here during the FIFA U-20 World Cup back in 2007 helped Argentina retain their title. Atletico further claimed it was part of a double swoop that included Aguero's team mate Godin, a defender. Total transaction cost? £52m. Food and lodging not included.

A significant factor sparking the unprecedented inflationary pressures is the imposition of draconian like financial rules that are scheduled to be introduced by the European Governing Body at the start of the 2011/12 season. Certainly not operating in the shadows will be the UEFA Financial Control Panel. Amongst its mandates is to set firm limits on player acquisition budgets right across the continent it polices.

No longer will Manchester City's activity in the transfer market be at the behest of Sheik Mansour's philanthropy but instead be judged solely on the club's annual revenue streams. UEFA will oversee each and every transfer with a make a buck, spend a buck prevailing mentality. With severe punishment for any club who dares to spend more than it earns. Not so much ‘don't pass go, or collect $200 and go straight to UEFA jail' more a case of domestic confinement for the over spenders as they gain persona non grata status for world soccer's flagship club event, the UEFA Champions League.

This time last year the sum total of transfer activity for the entire Barclays Premier League was the not so princely sum of £30m, approximately $46m. The lowest recorded figure since the January transfer window came into effect 8 years ago. With five sleeps left 2011's figure will likely quadruple that. An Aguero or two not included.

Royal Wedding Watching - Without question much beloved Princess Diana left numerous legacies behind but who ever would have thought her crafty, creative ability to shape and form favorable public opinion around well rehearsed influencing of the media would be so astutely observed and put into keen practice within the lofty corridors of soccer's highest of alters. One could say Jose Mourinho has made a career out of it. How long more then will the self anointed Special1 reign over Royal Madrid?

Blattered - Andrew Jennings, International Scoundrel to FIFA but globally acclaimed soccer sleuth to many maintains damaging revelations that will stem from a current Swiss Investigation into FIFA could well be the reason FIFA President Sepp Blatter has not been his usual quirky and jovial self of late. Jennings stated recently on oranges @ halftime the damage will effect 3 very high ranking FIFA officials and might likely be made public prior to this spring's FIFA Congress. The agenda for the 2-day Congress which begins May 31st includes the election to determine who will hold the office of FIFA President for the next 4-year term.

Convincibles - As momentum has recently gathered in media circles as to the validity of Manchester United's current unbeaten league season as they reference Wenger's Invincibles from the 2003/04 season no prizes for explaining why, following United's heroics in coming back from 2 goals down against Blackpool on Tuesday, that those skeptic presses have spluttered to a halt. Perhaps with the unprecedented 10 minutes of added time our esteemed members of the BPL media are all busy at the mall in search of that elusive Fergie branded pocket watch.

Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Most Extraordinary - As part of the re-launch of the New York Cosmos and as disclosed by Giorgio Chinaglia, International Ambassador for the club when he revealed to oranges @ halftime recently that plans are afoot to stage this summer in the Big Apple a monumental exhibition game featuring some of world soccer's ripest of players. Cosmos Versus Galactico it is then. What price a cameo from Pele?

Domestic Bliss - As the country swathes and wraps itself around a country wide blanket of snow, dipping mercury, all this talk of winter World Cups and voilà our professional teams are opening up their respective 2011 training camps. Welcome to the club Edmonton FC. A new management troika installed at Toronto FC, the Vancouver Whitecaps debuting in Major League Soccer and the Montreal Impact on a season long farewell tour of 2nd class soccer, with a few very pleasant exhibition game surprises along the road ahead of their entry as franchise number 19 into MLS next season. We can all then look forward to a hot and balmy season. Anyone spotted the Groundhog? I heard he was still living in the GTA.

Hardly Domestic Bliss - If we're to believe anything we hear or read squabbling and backroom room boiler deals are not the exclusive territory of tarnished regimes from other parts of the soccer world. Around this time last year our very own Canadian Soccer Association, revitalized of late under the very astute leadership of General Secretary Peter Montopoli, was in the midst of presenting their proposal for the urgent and desperately needed reform of Canadian Soccer.

Those in attendance for the presentation included each and every regional soccer chief that maketh up our way too disparate and overflowing hierarchal structure currently. With a crucial vote upcoming early next month for the love of the entire future of the beautiful game in Canada and on behalf of all soccer stakeholders across this so magnificent and fertile football land as you place your vote, show your true hand - kindly pause momentarily so as to ensure your vote is cast with a complete absence of personal viewpoints. In doing so, the sound of close to a million Canadians will reverberate in a chorus of heartfelt thanks.

[Kenpachi Zaraki]

Convincibles - As momentum has recently gathered in media circles as to the validity of Manchester United's current unbeaten league season as they reference Wenger's Invincibles from the 2003/04 season no prizes for explaining why, following United's heroics in coming back from 2 goals down against Blackpool on Tuesday, that those skeptic presses have spluttered to a halt. Perhaps with the unprecedented 10 minutes of added time our esteemed members of the BPL media are all busy at the mall in search of that elusive Fergie branded pocket watch.

The Title is Legit they're nowhere near the level we were at

[Metalitia]

United won't go all season unbeaten and even if they do they aren't a patch on that Arsenal side.

[Kenpachi Zaraki]

they'll lose 2 matches to Chelsea, once to us and once at Anfield and that's where we'll win the title