Love it or loathe it, the transfer window is a thing of necessity and depending on your point of view, you may or may not be happy to hear that it closes at 5 pm today.
That’s right, today is transfer deadline day but will Norwich City do any more business?
The talk amongst the Canary fans on Twitter yesterday was about a €12.5m fee being accepted by French Ligue 2 side, Lorient for their exciting young forward, Alexis Claude-Maurice.
Supposedly, Lorient have accepted the Canaries’ offer and it was now down to the player.
I was and am sceptical. This sounds like the least Stuart Webber transfer that I’ve ever heard. There’s no doubt the lad is a talent and too good for Ligue 2 but that’s a lot of money for someone who plays in the English equivalent of League 1 or even 2.
As Wednesday went on, it became apparent that all was not as it seemed.
With the EDP having reported that this record Canary fee had been accepted in the morning, one of their old employees, Michael Bailey dismissed the idea at lunchtime.
Alexis Claude-Maurice update (it ain't happening).
For that and more, join @TheAthleticUK Q&A. I will be on there from shortly after 1pm to answer Norwich City questions. #ncfc
— Michael Bailey (@michaeljbailey) August 7, 2019
Then, the EDP’s Dave Freezer tweeted that Lorient were clearly using City to ramp the price up.
Seems like #NCFC being used by Lorient to drum up interest. As per our story earlier, the overnight reports of a deal being agreed were wrong, but as I'd written in the initial rumour mill offering, the fees involved always made it unlikely. https://t.co/rX31HSJjk3
— David Freezer (@davefreezer) August 7, 2019
Meanwhile, various other unverified (at least by me) sources claimed that the player would be meeting Daniel Farke who would look to sell him the club.
je confirme les discussions en cours https://t.co/YYvCVAN6lQ
— Arnaud Le Sauce (@ArnaudLeSauce) August 7, 2019
So is it happening or not? Are Norwich City about to sign a promising young French forward that none of us have ever seen play for a fee of what later turned into €16.5m?
I just can’t see it happening. I might be completely wrong, which wouldn’t be the first time but I struggle to see us having that sort of money at this point in the window.
Early on in the summer, I remember someone saying that Farke wanted five signings and that the club could basically afford two.
It might have been Webber or it might’ve been Ben Kensell, my forty-something-year-old mind is letting me down. It was said at a business breakfast meeting that one of my mates went to.
Well, Daniel now has his five signings and I think the club have done pretty well in the market.
So what can we expect from today?
Will the French lad pitch up or not? Like I said, I wouldn’t put any money on it but other stuff might happen.
Jordan Rhodes looks as though he could still join. As the clock ticks down, the game of brinkmanship between the Canaries and the Owls will reach its finale.
I don’t expect City to crumble, it’ll just be whether or not Wednesday are prepared to keep paying Jordan his big salary and not really use him. We’ll see.
If Rhodes does arrive at NR1 then you might see Adam Idah make a loan move somewhere. I saw Sunderland mentioned a couple of days ago and a move to a promotion-chasing big club could be a good thing for him. Dennis Srbeny is another that many think could go out on-loan if Rhodes arrives but he has played a major part in pre-season, so I’m not convinced of that.
Whatever will be, will be. Enjoy your day and don’t let Sky Sports’ fever pitch coverage suck you into it too much. Although if I didn’t have to work, I’d have Sky Sports on at home all day!
Don’t be like The Tuckster – get a life 🙂
OTBC