A quick look at the rumours and news on transfer deadline day.
By the time you read this, it’s likely that Declan John will have signed on a year’s loan from Cardiff. I can’t say that I’ve ever seen him play. Descriptions from various sources suggest he’s coming in as cover for the positions on the left hand side of the pitch. Our squad is a little unbalanced in terms of left-footed players, so he’ll help there as well.
It would seem very likely that this is a player who was identified by Mark Allen. Having been good enough to play for Cardiff at the age of 18, you’d imagine he was at least looked at by Man City’s youth department at one point. John has struggled to kick on since then, with Cardiff boss Neil Warnock not giving him games. If he has the right mindset, we may be picking up a player determined to prove others wrong and show his ability. If not, it’s a loan deal that won’t cost much.
Since the implementation of the transfer windows, fans have become a little bit more demanding. It’s deemed stupidity to leave your transfer business to be done so late, yet woe betide any club who doesn’t get involved in the deadline debacle. For Rangers, our business was done early. I suspect Declan John will be the last signing of the summer.
The only player who may come in to change that is Jamie Walker. This one has dragged on for months now, and we clearly won’t pay what Hearts are looking for. If there’s movement on their side, Walker will be signed by midnight. Many will think Hearts are making a mistake by holding out for a relatively high fee for a player out of contract in a year and clearly looking to leave the club. However, from their perspective, it tells their players and other clubs that they won’t be easily pushed over in this regard. It’s not quite as clear-cut as it seems. By the time you read this, there may have been some developments.
There were numerous names linked online yesterday. Lazar Markovic, Gelson Dala, and Ben Henighen were just a few. Various strong sources have denied any truth in any of them. After already making numerous signings, it was always unlikely that we’d sign a number of players on deadline day.
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In terms of players leaving, there’s been no noise at all. I have a feeling we may see either Holt or Dodoo go out on loan, but that’s just a guess rather than anything concrete. Both players are struggling to even make the bench now, so first team chances are very limited. The likes of Foderingham and Tavernier, who we’ve knocked back bids for earlier in the window, look set to stay.
Elsewhere, the club have confirmed various matches for our Development squads. Our youth strategy is gathering pace, and it should be interesting to compare the relative strengths of our young prospects against those of top clubs around Europe. There’s been more work done on the stadium to get that up the standard it deserves to be. Pictures emerged of the rumoured new home top and third kit, to a mixed response. I don’t believe we can expect much from Puma this season, given everything that’s gone on, and merchandise will sell in big numbers regardless.
For an article discussing transfer news in the main, it’s a quiet one for transfer deadline day. From a personal point of view, I’m much happier when that’s the case. This year, it signifies better planning and less panic. If we’re able to maintain continuity in terms of squad numbers and quality, we’ll be able to do similar next season.