Normally it´s a day to dread, but Evertonians will be waking up on Saturday morning after what was nothing less than the best transfer window the Toffees have ever had – with three newcomers joining the Blues.
Not necessarily in terms of money spent – all things being considered we by and large broke even – but in terms of how well we have reinvested the money compared to a lot of our rivals in the league.
But most importantly, we kept all of our key players this summer.
It was a night of speculation about incomings and trepidation about outgoings. Evertonians wondered whether the sale of Jack Rodwell would be re-invested into the squad, or slip down the back of the sofa.
The first incoming was done in a surprisingly quick manner. Costa Rican left-back Bryan Oviedo had been rumoured to be joining the club over the past 48 hours (and for quite some time this was known on the GrandOldTeam forums too), so it was no surprise when he swiftly completed the transfer after passing his work permit in the afternoon.
But as the day progressed, the rumour mill became ever wilder – aided and abetted by some strange news from Sky Sports as the flagship sports channel widely reported a non-existent bid for Birmingham ´keeper Jack Butland.
Twitter saw rumours spread like wildfire regarding Steven N´Zonzi, Michael Owen & Charlie Adam. GOT just reported what we knew – which, until just before 10pm, was absolutely nothing other the arrival of Kilmarnock youngster Matthew Kennedy for a nominal fee.
But as the deadline approached, we heard from an impeccable source that Everton were battling to secure Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe – so we put our neck on the line and reported it. Naturally, the GrandOldTeam forum immediately died under the sheer weight of thousands upon thousands of Toffees surging to the website looking for info, so we took to social media to share the news.
The wait began – the deadline came and went, and we all waited and waited…
And then, just after 1am, we heard that the deal had become official and announced it, much to the delight of Evertonians around the world who were eagerly awaiting news of the move.
In one transfer window, Everton have sold a player who never developed to his potential at Everton in Rodwell for a massive fee, and reinvested the money with no less than three first team additions in Oviedo, Mirallas & Odjidja-Ojoe. Furthermore, we have brought back the brilliant Steven Pienaar and made a smart acquisition in Steven Naismith on a free. AND we´ve kept hold of Leighton Baines, Phil Jagielka, Jonny Heitinga, Marouane Fellaini etc. etc.
With the excellent start to the campaign on the pitch, there´s a real sense that the team has bought into the aspirations and philosophy at Goodison Park. After such a positive transfer window, the fans can now do the same.
And GOT helped to filter through the crap on Twitter! Not bad for a days work!!!
COYB!