Micah Richards: Past imperfect. Present Possible. Future…?
Micah Richards had the promise to be a star player at City for years to come.
Amongst the furore of the more high profile Deadline Day deals, with Radamel Falcao joining Manchester United and Danny Welbeck shipping out of Old Trafford to join Arsenal, another move involving an England international player may have slipped under the radar, and escaped notice. Whilst Jim White was giving his masterclass performance juggling telephones, social media and outside broadcast reports, Micah Richards was on the move out of the Premier League to join Fiorentina in Serie A.
Seeing a player with a limited future at his existing club, seek new pastures may not be particularly noteworthy, but when Richards followed fellow England international defender Ashley Cole to Serie A, it spoke of a sad situation where a seemingly exciting English prospect has fallen by the wayside.
Fabio Borini plays a waiting game for the right move
Whilst big money transfers kept the hyper-excitable Jim White fed with drama on Sky, there was one deal that even Harry Redknapp could not get over the line. The QPR boss is renowned for his transfer dealings but, although the Hoops had agreed a fee with Liverpool, signing Fabio Borini for the proved beyond even ‘Arry’s negotiating skills. All of this seems very strange on the surface as not only had the clubs come to an agreement, but Reds’ manager Brendan Rodgers had reportedly also made it abundantly clear to the Italian that his chances of playing this season would be severely limited as he was considered fourth choice, at best, for a striker’s position, behind Sturridge, Balotelli and Lambert. Such information however, appeared to do little to persuade the Italian to join the west London club.
Borini was not keen to be rushed into a move to QPR.
Medicals that can save lives: Almunia, Foe, Muamba and more.
When the transfer window is open, we’ve all took the opportunity to peer through it and seen a multi-million pound superstar footballer lying on an hospital bed hooked-up to all kinds of electronic gadgetry monitoring everything from pulse rate to brain waves and all points in between. It’s the pre-transfer medical. Smile on the face and thumbs up signal all is fine and dandy. Tomorrow morning the news is confirmed that your club has a new star player and the season ahead looks there for the taking. Sadly however, sometimes it doesn’t work out quite like that.
Even with an athlete supposedly in peak physical condition, a medical can reveal some kind of deep-rooted injury, or even worse an illness that would make any signing perilous at best, a disaster at worst. The medical is failed. Doctor, rather than computer, says no. The deal is off. Months of work and intricate negotiation are suddenly deposited in the nearest bin. There’s no arguing however. Doctor knows best.
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Gary Thacker 