The Mad Season

Fans look forward to it.Managers gear up for it.Agents salivate at it and players revel in it.It's not the league season but the season in between seasons.It's the transfer season.The mad period in football where players are so linked to various clubs,you wonder if they are communication lines.The period where obscene sums of money are thought of,quoted and in the some cases,given away or taken depending on where you stand in the exchange process.This year's market season has seen some of the most mind-bugging scenarios till date and I'm sure it will get crazier.
The ''El Nina Maravina and His Many Suitors'' saga is one that has captured attention.Young Chilean star,Alexis Sanchez had suddenly become the must-have player if you fancied pace,skill and some cherry in your team and a lot of teams wanted that.First,Manchester United showed their interest but Barcelona showed more than interest.They showed money and soon,Udinese chairman,Giampaolo Pozzo was rubbing his hands in expectant fashion as a deal worth about 27 million euros neared completion.Barcelona even made space for the Chilean by selling Bojan.Bloggers,tweeters,journalists and fans has accepted the facts.Sanchez was going to join the European champions.All too smooth for Mr.Murphy to let go,right?So he struck and maybe he struck Pozzo's head in a dream and when the boss woke up on Thursday morning and said if you didn't have 50 million pounds ready,get lost.He said if Ronaldo was worth 80 million quid,his ''playalike'' was also worth a lot if less.Quite engrossing for the mind and you can be sure that's not the last of it.
Luka Modric also had a say in the mad season too.Yes,Luka Modric.The quiet,nice Croatian bloke who runs the midfield for Tottenham.His claim to mad season fame was his open desire to join Chelsea as he ''wanted to win titles''.Once again,the wheels started turning and it was all in the news.The deal had begun from articles even before the two parties even dreamt of talking.However,Spurs chairman Daniel Levy didn't wait for Mr.Murphy to stir him into action.He said no and a big one at that to shut us all up.
Maybe not as dramatic as Sanchez's case but it still highlighted one simple thing.Players want to win titles and they're willing to go wherever to gain football's only objective.Fueled by this wisdom,Aston Villa's Ashley Young swapped blue and scarlet for the red and white of Manchester United and he'll be joined by Phil Jones from Blackburn.Great news for the English champions as they seek a 20th title and go way ahead of their bitter rivals,Liverpool who have also suddenly woken up and have gone into a frenzy.
First,they signed Jordan Henderson for 20million pounds and they're seeking to add more players to their team.Good shot,new owners.At least we can see exactly what you're spending on and you know whom you want too.However,the mad season has not seen one of its main players so far.This team has so much money to spend and they have an owner who's willing to throw more cash around.You guessed it right.I'm talking about Manchester City.Yes,they've looked around.They were ever present in the Sanchez episode and they're linked to every player on Earth.But they've not yet bought anything.Maybe they're still looking around but while they do,it seems they want Jerome Boateng to go away to Bayern Munich.Let's just wait and see.
But this time around,the coaches are also in on the act.Andre Villas-Boas' 13.2 million pound move from Porto to Chelsea tops the lot but the switch from Birmingham to Aston Villa will forever etch Alex McLeish into memory for purity's sake.Joining the enemy is a travesty and should he and Randy Lerner fail,the purists will have this golden rule played so much,it might win a Grammy or even a Billboard award.
The coming weeks will see lots more drama.Questions of loyalty,ambition drive and even money will come up for players and coaches alike but how they answer can and will decide how mad the transfer season will turn out.