As Rangers unveiled the transfers of Kemar Roofe and Cedric Itten it had media across the country scrambling to catch up.
Once again, the incomings to Ibrox had been kept so well under wraps that not a peep was remotely leaked about their arrival until those Roofe photos and reports came from elsewhere.
It wasn’t until the former Leeds United striker was holding up a Rangers shirt that most knew the signing was a dead cert.
Then came the story of Itten which only reached these shores when Tagblatt from Switzerland claimed exclusive knowledge of the move.
Considering they’d just spoken to the FC St. Gallen president – who confirmed the player was leaving – it was safe to believe their knowledge was solid.
From here, there were stories claiming that the deal hit snags because FC St. Gallen were playing hardball over price.
Not to mention those claims in the days previous that Florian Kamberi had turned us down for the Swiss club.
But as it transpired, the deal to bring the Swiss Super League side’s talismanic forward was actually agreed a week before it was announced.
“This deal was agreed just over a week ago but with St Gallen in a title race and battle for European places we were respectful of that with the Swiss season only ending on Monday evening,” said sporting director Ross Wilson [Rangers].
“We can all see that the transfer market has been quiet across Europe and we are operating in a market that’s not like any we have experienced before.
“Leagues are starting and finishing at different times and that means that players and clubs are all at different stages.”
In short – no one had a clue!
Just like no-one had a clue about Ianis Hagi, about Calvin Bassey, about Jon McLaughlin or about Leon Balogun.
Ross Wilson deserves every credit for keeping these transfers so close to his chest and this is a long way from the dressing room leaks of yore.
Rangers secretive transfer business is allowing the club to go about the window quietly and effectively and has the media scrambling to keep up.