A dead transfer window for the top clubs

TRANSFER TALK

Late summer signing Sissoko has struggled to adapt at Spurs

As we expected it was all quiet at Spurs on transfer deadline day, indeed it was a quiet window, but we were not alone.

Spurs spent nothing
Arsenal spent £40,000
Chelsea spent nothing
Manchester City spent nothing
Liverpool spent nothing
Manchester United spent nothing

Football has become a science with players now unable to play two games a week, they can but not at optimum levels on a regular basis. You either accept a lower standard or use a squad.

At Spurs, we use a system and a have a fitness level that it takes time to master. Late signings like Moussa Sissoko signed late in the summer transfer window and have struggled to adapt to our requirements, the same happened with Fazio before him, Vincent Janssen, Clinton N'jie, Georges-Kevin N'koudou, the list goes on.

The fact that players have to learn the system, their role within it and the role of everyone else makes signings in January extremely difficult. If a player is going to take a month or six weeks before he is ready to be drafted into the side then you are looking at the middle of March before you get any use out of a new signing.

That may leave two months of the season left, but it doesn't really leave that many games and financially you have to question the wisdom of purchases when they are cheaper in the summer. Like it or not football is a business and each club has to be run as a business.

While fans might cry for signings, citing the number of tournaments to play, none of the top clubs have made any first-team purchases.

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