The Window Closeth
February 1 – 2007
Though it came in like a lion, January goes out like a lamb. The mind-blowing moves never really materialized, and most teams are deciding to stick it out with the players they have. And considering the Chelseafied, tulip-craze reality of today’s transfer market, can you blame them?
Here’s a look at some of the more significant moves from the latter part of January:
Loaners
- Oguchi Onyewu loaned to Newcastle. Remember when Belozoglu Emre was accused by Everton players of making racist remarks, and he used the “some of my best friends are black” defense? Well, Mr. Emre, how about 6 foot 3 inches and 200 lbs. of potential new best friend. Gooch hopes to make the move permanent come summer, and considering Newcastle have actually been putting Peter Ramage on the field of late, he’s got a good shot.
- Giuseppe Rossi goes to Parma on loan from Manchester United. And promptly thumps in this fantastic goal. Landon Donovan is so, so lucky Rossi won’t play for us.
Done Deals
- Claudio Reyna to Red Bull on a free. Both sides of the deal have quoted “family” as the reason for the move, and I suppose that’s true…if by “family” you mean “no hope of cracking the lineup ever again.” Claudio may have been past it in the Prem, but if he can stay fit, he’ll do good things in New York.
- Ashley Young ships over to Aston Villa from Watford for a fee of $16million. It’s not like Young fired Watford to the top of the table, or anything. Still, Martin O’Neill had cash burning a hole after Baros jumped to Lyon. Push.
- David Dunn goes back to Blackburn from Birmingham City on an undisclosed fee. Not that anyone cares about Dunn, but there’s always a chance he’ll produce another moment like this.
- John Stead goes to Sheffield United from Sunderland for $1.5million. This move is in line with Stead’s contract, which stipulates he only play for vertically striped, red and white teams with a better than fair chance of being relegated.
- Matthew Upson and Lucas Neill to West Ham from Birmingham City and Blackburn, respectively. Upson will offer Championship experience for next year after West Ham are relegated, while Neill will at least be a solid drinking buddy for Roy Carroll.
I heard that some guy named Clint Dempsey signed with Ful-ham.
Comment by Nordy — February 1, 2007 @ 11:23 am
Covered here: http://soccernista.com/2007/01/10/transfer-window-week-one/
I never miss a chance to link to clintdempsey.com
Comment by garth — February 1, 2007 @ 1:19 pm
In all seriousness, you might have missed the best signing of the window: Fulham’s loan signing of Vincenzo Montellla. Dude is money.
Comment by Nordy — February 2, 2007 @ 10:47 am
Yeah, Montella is a great buy for them.
Hate to say it, but I wish I was a Fulham fan right now. It makes it worse that they sold the only player I didn’t like on their team to West Ham.
Comment by garth — February 2, 2007 @ 12:38 pm
What??..yah, Boa Morte is a terrible player. You should be happy your shite Hammers got some quality into the squad. You’re telling me you’d rather be cheering for, “ya holla at ur boy”??
Comment by LG — February 2, 2007 @ 12:41 pm
ClaudioReyna
BruceArena
it’s
a
weird
relationship
broken
spacebar’s
suck
Comment by matt — February 2, 2007 @ 3:01 pm
Joe Cole nicknamed his knee “the spacebar.”
Comment by stuartdowningpints.com — February 2, 2007 @ 3:47 pm
LG, Boa Morte has put in one good performance (home against Arsenal) in the past 12 months. He was a great player for Fulham for a while, but he’s been shit the past 12 months.
As a Fulham fan, I’ll always have a soft spot in my heart for him. At the same time, i wasn’t sad to see him go.
Comment by Nordy — February 2, 2007 @ 5:33 pm