Sky Promises Ground-Breaking Football Transfer Insight
Author:
Roy Brindley
A new Sky Original Documentary, Deadline Day: Football’s Transfer Window, will debut on Sky Documentaries and NOW on Sunday, January 15th. The biopic is described by the broadcaster as “a ground-breaking insight into the most talked about but the least understood aspect of modern football.”
Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish is amongst those that contribute to the Sky Original documentary. ?GettyImages
With unprecedented behind-the-scenes access to world-class players and Europe’s premier agents, the series unmasks the men whose job it is to make footballers’ dreams a reality. And, for the first time, it also reveals how headline-grabbing multimillion-pound deals are brokered.
A Record Year for Transfer Fees
The documentary was filmed during the summer of 2022 when Premier League clubs spent ￡1.9 billion during a transfer window that opened on June 10th and closed on September 1st. According to figures collated by Deloitte’s Sports, it was the highest ever spend during a transfer window. This figure represented an increase of 67 percent on the corresponding period in 2021.
Premier League clubs were responsible for 49 percent of the collective gross spend across Europe’s ‘big five’ leagues. Figures show Serie A teams spent €749.2 million. Ligue 1 clubs forked out €558.0 million. La Liga teams parted with €505.7 million, and the Bundesliga was responsible for €484.1 million in player transactions.
A Looking Through the Shop Front Window
With contributions from journalists, sporting directors, and club owners – including Crystal Palace’s Steve Parish, Leeds United’s Andrea Radrizzani, and West Ham’s David Sullivan – Deadline Day: Football’s Transfer Window takes viewers inside some of the football’s most talked about moves.
During the show, cameras follow Fabian Ruiz and his agent Rodolfo Orife as his plan to join his hero, Lionel Messi, hangs in the balance. German agent Sascha Empacher brokers a ￡15 million deal for Sasa Kalajd?i? to join Wolverhampton Wanderers at a time when relentless press speculation links the Austrian forward to Manchester United.
As the deadline clock ticks down, defender Japhet Tanganga makes a fateful decision. Martin Dubravka moves to Manchester United, and Florian Grillitsch signs for Dutch giants Ajax. Meanwhile, Manchester City’s Omar Berrada opens up on how the club snared superstar Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund.
Liverpool Won the Race to Sign Cody
Deadline Day: Football’s Transfer Window unravels the knot of real human motivations behind each headline-grabbing deal, revealing the operatic narratives of triumph, power, and ambition behind football’s biggest transfers. Conveniently, its broadcast comes at the halfway point of the January transfer window.
As ever, potential transfers have been subject to wholesale speculation, rumors and gossip. However, Liverpool has already put pen to paper to sign Cody Gakpo. The 23-year-old Dutch international joins the 2022 Premier League runners-up on a five-and-a-half-year contract that is reportedly worth ￡37 million – and has bonus potential for more.
Currently sat sixth in the Premier League standings and seven points adrift of fourth-placed Manchester United, Liverpool badly needs a shot in the arm. Nevertheless, the bookies still have faith, and the best online football betting sites make the club 4/6 to qualify for the UEFA Champions League.
