Draft Over as Window Blows Shut

As Year Zero dawns amidst the Smog today and soccer society picks through the carnage caused by the tornado of transfers allowed to wreak havoc by the simple opening of a window, what can fans in the Capital draw from the apocalyptic happenings of The Night Before? How does London go about rebuilding its footballing infrastructure in the face of the cultural renovations it will inevitably be forced to undertake as it enters this brave new world?

Well, the season is already three games old, for a start. Also, aside from at the Emirates, where Arsenal have revolutionised their outlook on acquiring personnel by almost tripling their record outlay with the £42.4m (FORTY-TWO POINT FOUR MILLION POUND) purchase of Mesut Ozil from Real Madrid, little of the London landscape will look altogether different to that forecast long before the events of last night across the region.

Gareth Bale has swapped England’s capital for that of Spain, as predicted by all and sundry many moons ago. His feet were yesterday available for comment and found themselves busy cashing their agent’s cheques by performing keepie-uppies on the Bernabeu pitch before an audience of over 20,000.

Meanwhile, his former foes scrapped and brawled in the way only a flurry of pampered celebrities and overworked desk jockeys can, if only in order to try and replace the Welshman’s poise and pizazz in the Premier League before the phonecalls and faxes stopped and the trail went cold.

Crystal Palace fans looked to be taking a trip down memory lane but swung a sharp left as centre forward Andy Johnson was boxed into a corner by current employers Queens Park Rangers, who halted the intended homecoming of the former Eagles favourite at the final turn.

While they had not succeeded in finalising a move for Johnson or fellow member of the strikers’ union, Stoke City’s Cameron Jerome, by quitting time last night, the club remain upbeat on the latter’s chances of making the move south and, in any event, can be reasonably happy with their day at the office, having signed up Barry Bannan from Aston Villa and Reading’s Adrian Mariappa, both for undisclosed fees, to add inspiration to the squad’s admirable perspiration; a pirouette to their sweat, if you will.

QPR boss Harry Redknapp finally struck his infamous pose - hunched over in the Range Rover, window down, struggling with the seat belt and looking to get away sharpish, yet ever the affable cockney - in the final hour as he sought to confirm reunions of his own, in his case with Niko Kranjcar, after the Croatian’s flight finally touched down, as well as with Tottenham Hotspur duo Benoit Assou-Ekotto (who represents a serious coup for the Championship) and highly rated midfielder Tom Carroll.

As with both rivals Spurs and former club idol Gianfranco Zola’s Watford regime, Chelsea had been very active this summer and so managed to take care of their summer business before yesterday - in terms of arrivals, anyway – with only the on loan departures, the most wave-making of which being those of attackers Victor Moses and Romelu Lukaku to Merseyside, with Liverpool and Everton respectively, announced over the course of the day.

No movements were detected from the East End, as West Ham United fans had to be content with their lot and couldn’t even grant Ricardo Vaz Te his wish, and perhaps theirs, of a move away from the Big Smoke after a deal with Norwich City fell through just before close of play.

Fulham, however, made a last-ditch dash for the check-outs with Elsad Zverotic from Swiss side BSC Young Boys under their coats, while off-loading Cauley Woodrow to Southend United and Marcello Trotta to Brentford, who also managed to lure Raphael Calvet to Griffin Park from Ligue 2’s AJ Auxerre in time to hopefully parade their new prized assets before the home support, prior to their Johnstone’s Paint Trophy match-up against AFC Wimbledon tonight.

The Dons, like their League Two rivals Dagenham and Redbridge, declined to part with any further hard-earned cash yesterday, while Championship sides Charlton Athletic and Millwall were also quiet, their outgoing activity limited to letting go a single player apiece, with the Addicks also loaning Cameron Stewart from Hull City until January.

League One leaders Leyton Orient brought in Jayden Stockley on loan from Bournemouth but otherwise sought not to disrupt what seems a finely balanced set-up currently in place in E10.

North London was to take centre stage on the Deadline Day billed to end all Deadline Days not so very long ago but, with Spurs Chairman Daniel Levy’s brinkmanship leaving their nemeses nearby little room for manoeuvre, the Gunners’ welcoming of goalkeeper Emiliano Viviano from U.S. Citta di Palermo was hardly the headline-grabber likely to have been dreamed up in any Fleet Street brainstorming sessions.

Spurs may have made no attempt to swell their ranks one final time to round off their biggest ever spree, with the final count standing at upwards of £100m, but all talk this morning will, at last, not be of the reasons for their caution.

Rather, it will be of that man Ozil, how he is to fit into Arsene Wenger’s system and, as a minor point, why on earth the club would want to refurbish the lavish region of the team where Germany’s most expensive footballer resides and not feel the need to replenish the more deprived and under-subscribed areas, situated towards the back and along the spine of the side, seeing as they had a sizeable wedge with which to invest.

Oh, what does it matter, in any event? The one thing we do know for certain is that the world is safe and silly season is over for anoth-

Three months? Is that all?!

It makes you wonder what all the fuss was about.

Confirmed Deadline Day deals:

Mesut Ozil – Real Madrid to Arsenal (£42.4m)

Emiliano Viviano - Palermo to Arsenal (Loan)

Victor Moses - Chelsea to Liverpool (Loan)

Romelu Lukaku - Chelsea to Everton (Loan)

Elsad Zverotic – BSC Young Boys to Fulham (Undisclosed)

Barry Bannan - Aston Villa to Crystal Palace (Undisclosed)

Adrian Mariappa - Reading to Crystal Palace (Undisclosed)

Peter Ramage - Crystal Palace to Barnsley (Loan)

Benoit Assou-Ekotto - Tottenham Hotspur to Queens Park Rangers (Loan)

Tom Carroll – Tottenham Hotspur – Queens Park Rangers (Loan)

Niko Kranjcar – FC Dynamo Kyiv to Queens Park Rangers (Loan)

Cameron Stewart - Hull City to Charlton Athletic (Loan)

Danny Green – Charlton Athletic to MK Dons (Loan)

Dany N'Guessan - Millwall to Swindon Town (Free)

Cauley Woodrow - Fulham to Southend United (Loan)

Marcello Trotta - Fulham to Brentford (Loan)

Raphael Calvet - Auxerre to Brentford (Undisclosed)

Jayden Stockley - Bournemouth to Leyton Orient (Loan)