Sunderland, the orgy-filming swingers of Tyne & Wear, have been busy today, along with Spurs and a few other perennial wheeler-dealers in the EPL.
The last day of the transfer window before the summer is always a frantic one, full of gusto and outrageous events that ultimately disappoint, much like any film directed by Michael Bay.
Join me after the jump for a round-up of today's action, including tasty news about Jermain Defoe, Benjani, and Andy Reid!
After some classic will-he, won't-he bollocks, Defoe finally left White Hart Lane on his way to Portsmouth. It was thought that the deal would hinge on Benjani bolting for Man City, but as of this moment, Benjani is staying put and Jermain finds himself in yet another logjam of strikers - Kanu, Benjani, Defoe, Utaka, Baros, and Nugent. Good luck! Middleborough landed their dream striker in Afonso Alves, the man who's scored more in Holland than a million backpacking students. One wonders whether he can make the switch to the EPL, where so many Eredivisie strikers have faltered, but heck, it's their money [all 12 million pounds of it]. Fulham bag two Finns and a Canadian in Jari Litmanen, Toni Kallio and Paul Staltieri. Hodgson is still on the way down, though. Enjoy Litmanen [just like we did at Anfield]. Sunderland lure the fat, injured Irishman Andy Reid from Charlton Athletic, no doubt with a string of sausages. Roy Keane's dream of fielding a full Irish XI moves one step closer to being realized. Man City ship two out in Dabo [Lazio] and Ishmael Miller [West Brom], bringing in 19-year-old Ecuadorian striker Felipe Caicedo [Basel] and 17-year-old Filippo Mancini, the son of Italian "legend" Roberto. Spurs grab defender Gilberto from Hertha Berlin, despite the rumours that he failed his 2nd physical and that the deal was in the shitter. Everton snag one-time England call-up Anthony Gardner from Spurs, in a move no-one saw coming, and perhaps a move no-one cares about. In the most retarded move of the day, Newcastle lose David Rozehnal to Lazio in a loan move until the end of the season. Koogan managed to sign no-one as of yet, and just tossed his most experienced defender out to Serie A after he played virtually every game for them this season. We wonder when Koog will catch the shitstorm for that one. In the meantime, we can only hope he knows what he's doing. --- Until then, this is the pick of the crop. Not one of the Big 4 made a signing, although Arsenal and Chelsea did let a couple of young'uns go. In the same breath, a lot of the next tier made significant moves in attempt to chase down that last Champions League spot. We shall see how it all pans out.
As is often the case, it was a dismal day. The January deadline often is. There is the chance of some transfer deals to be completed or formally announced tomorrow, especially considering the raft of rumours and possible sightings at stadiums all around the country. It's a normal practice, so if anything clicks tomorrow that's worth noting, we'll make it known.
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