For fans of teams at either end of the table, transfer deadline day is nothing short of an exhausting, trying affair. The madness of the day has only been exacerbated in recent years thanks to the advent of social media, which on days such as January 31st, can be nothing short of a cornucopia of rumors of players being sighted going in for medicals and moves theoretically in the works. The 2013 edition of transfer deadline lived up to every expectation one would have of it, and certain scenes at Loftus Road even offered us a bit of the downright peculiar to bear witness to.
Unquestionably, the biggest winner of deadline day amongst Premier League teams was QPR. Their earlier January signing of Loïc Rémy had already paid off some dividends, but still, QPR's most glaring weakness throughout their dismal season, that of an overly soft defense, had strangely not been addressed until the last possible moments. In those moments, however, QPR snapped up surely the best realistically available target in Chris Samba, whose time with Anzhi in Russia was good on the field and financially, but blighted by issues of racism at various intervals. Harry Redknapp also turned to Jermaine Jenas and Andros Townsend, both of whom he had managed at Tottenham, to add some options to a squad that, despite all of the summer investments, has horribly underperformed this term. The gap is still significant for QPR at the foot of the table, but aside from the home capitulation against MK Dons in the FA Cup, the results and performances have been much better in recent weeks. With more vital pieces in place, time is now of the essence in their battle to stay up.
Peter Odemwingie gave us one of the more bizarre moments in recent deadline day history when he made a spectacle of himself in driving down to Loftus Road himself in order to (apparently) put his name on the dotted line of a deal with QPR. Yes, he said all the right things about his new prospective employer, but there was but one tiny problem: West Brom had not agreed to any transfer fee with QPR, and with that in mind, they had of course not given him permission to go to London to hash out the personal terms of a contract with QPR. With the close of the transfer window, Odemwingie had little option but to sulk back to West Brom with no transfer forced through and a seemingly untenable situation of his own making to greet him at the Hawthorns. It will be very compelling to see if there is any way back for him now this season.
Though Arsenal, as expected, did not spend copious amounts of money in the hopes of buying their way back into the top four this season, they did at least address a recent trouble spot in the team in signing Nacho Monreal from Malaga. With Kieran Gibbs injured and Andre Santos looking like anything but a left-back in recent outings, this signing was an absolute must for Arsene Wenger. The fact that Monreal was a main cog in a Champions League caliber Malaga side and is on Spain's radar is an added bonus.
For those of us here in the US, the transfer window offered us a bit more to digest by way of the players making moves over to England--surprisingly in some cases. With these departures, there are now a few MLS teams who will be looking to fill some considerable gaps in their squads before the season starts next month.
Brek Shea's move from FC Dallas to Stoke had been in the works for a while, but it was only on the last day that his transition from horizontal red and white stripes to vertical ones was completed. While we are fully aware of Shea's sheer athleticism and speed down the left wing, it will be interesting to see how he fits into Stoke's pragmatic, hard to breakdown system. Surely Tony Pulis has something in mind for him, and maybe there is some credence to be lent to suggestions that Shea could be used as something of a swashbuckling left-back there.
In a deal that was completed on deadline day eve, Kei Kamara completed his loan move to Norwich, which will run through the end of May. Though Kamara has progressed significantly as a player in the last couple of seasons with Kansas City, I don't think many in MLS circles would have ever guessed that he'd be on Premier League radars, and yet, there he is donning yellow and gold for at least a few months. Like Shea, it will be of some curiosity to see how he is utilized by Chris Hughton. A spot out wide, and likely as a routine second half substitute, would be my guess.
San Jose had been working to hold on to Simon Dawkins, but with parent club Tottenham seemingly stalling, the hopes for that fell through, and instead Dawkins now finds himself returning to England and looking for regular playing time in a loan spell with relegation threatened Aston Villa. With all due respect to Dawkins, the signing is hardly enough to instill Villa fans with the belief that they will beat the drop, but regardless, it is a chance for Dawkins to show what his time in MLS has meant for his evolution as a player.
While the transfer window has closed in the Premier League and the big leagues around Europe, we need not forget that the MLS transfer window is open until April 15th. Let the speculation begin about who might be making their own deadline day moves to this side of the pond.
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