Question. How did Man U get an extension to the deadline for Falcao when he had been there all afternoon? How did they swing it? Genuine question. I was somewhat puzzled by that last night...
Because they put a deal form into the FA. Basically says both sides had a intention to complete the deal. We did the same for Ben Arfa and Arsenal did it for Welbeck.
Yeah but I thought the reason we got the extension was because Ben Affleck had been diverted on the motorway and was therefore delayed through no fault of his own, as it were. Surely with Man U, he was sitting in the ****ing office, if they can't do the deal in seven hours then tough ****? But there again... this is Man U.
He wasn't actually there all afternoon, he didn't land until about 7.00pm last night and didn't get to Carrington until about 8.30pm. There's still applications in for deals that went past the deadline, Villa are still trying to get a loan deal for Cleverley approved this morning.
We where given the same leeway as both Man Utd and Arsenal. On this occasion I don't think you can accuse top club bias by the FA.
Not sure about Arse but it wasn't the same as Man U. Our player was delayed on the motorway. Theirs was sipping lattés in Man U's office.
It doesn't work like that, if a club has a deal all agreed and all that's required is a medical or sorting out the paperwork, then you can apply for a two hour extension. We applied for one, Man United applied for one, Villa applied for one, Arsenal applied for one, we all got the same leeway.
Transfer deadline day is synonymous with reporters spending most of the day camped outside the gates of the Premier League's big clubs, waiting for any sign of potential activity. That was certainly the case on 31 January 2008 as a potential move by Manchester City for Portsmouth striker Benjani rumbled on for much of the day. City had managed just one win since the turn of the year, and with regular first-choice striker Rolando Bianchi sold and forward Darius Vassell preferred on the left wing, then-manager Sven-Goran Eriksson wanted to strengthen his squad. With a couple of potential deals believed to have fallen through earlier in the day and the hours ticking away, City turned their attention to Benjani. Reporters gathered outside City's Etihad Stadium and Portsmouth's Fratton Park to shed any detail they could on what ultimately developed into one of the more bizarre deadline day sagas. A fee was agreed for the Zimbabwe international in the afternoon and he subsequently made his way to Southampton airport. Then things started to go wrong. Benjani reportedly fell asleep, which resulted in him missing two flights to the north west and ultimately not arriving in Manchester until after 23:00 GMT. In that time, City had also apparently got "buyer's remorse", having become concerned with a long-standing knee injury, and tried to back out of the original deal. A City spokesperson later stated the deal had not gone through before the midnight deadline but, four days later, the Premier League confirmed they had received the necessary paperwork in time and the move was officially completed. Benjani made an ideal start to life at City, scoring on his debut in a 2-1 win against Manchester United, but injuries restricted his appearances after that, playing 22 further games and scoring three more goals over a two-year period before leaving in 2010 when his contract expired.
