In the days before the internet and social media, football clubs generally conducted their transfer business with minimal fuss.
Digital media and the introduction of transfer windows have transformed the landscape, and not for the better.
Fans are now subjected to an endless cycle of rumours, counter-rumours and ‘in-the-know’ reports from clueless numpties pretending to be journalists.
This summer is a perfect example. There have been a plethora of pointless transfer sagas, and the whole shebang has become mind-numbingly boring.
Viktor Gyokeres, Victor Osimhen, Marcus Rashford, Benjamin Sesko and Bryan Mbeumo are among the players who have dominated the transfer headlines this summer.
In each case, fans would have been forgiven for going to bed and asking someone to wake them up when the nonsense surrounding them stops.
‘Linked with’, ‘eyeing a move for’, ‘keeping tabs on’ and ‘monitoring’ are among the terms that have allowed Fabrizio Romano and his ilk to steal a living.
‘Mulling’, ‘pondering’, ‘preparing a bid’, ‘opening talks’, ‘leading the race’ and ‘pole position’ are other stages which seemingly require a new story to be published every day.
There are numerous other tiresome steps to complete before a transfer becomes a ‘done deal’, none of which get the pulses racing.
Mbeumo’s move from Brentford to Manchester United sums up what has become one of the most boring aspects of professional football.
United’s pursuit of Mbeumo went on for around seven weeks as the clubs went back and forth in a seemingly endless game of cat and mouse.
Social media ‘transfer experts’ lapped it up, posting pointless updates about developments which may or may not have happened.
When the deal was completed, the usual sense of excitement such a move would usually generate was replaced by a collective sigh of relief that the saga was over.
Arsenal’s potential move for Sporting CP striker Gyokeres is equally tedious. The deal was reportedly close to completion, and then it wasn’t.
Then it was. Then it wasn’t. Rinse and repeat. Roll on September 2.
Top football stories
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Football Today features
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What to watch
Rangers face Panathinaikos in a Champions League qualifier tonight. That should be worth watching.
