Dan King: The window is shutting on a bleak midwinter

23 January 2010 22:06
Analysts at Deloitte's Sports Business Group say that only £5millionhas been spent by Premier League clubs in what is shaping up to be byfar the most frugal January transfer window.[LNB]That figure compares to around £80m at this stage last year, when a record amount of £175m was spent before February. [LNB]Agents report that clubs are so strapped for cash that refusing topay all of a loan  player's wages, as in the case of Stoke withPortsmouth's David James, is becoming the rule rather than theexception. [LNB] Bucking the trend: Stoke want to sign Pompey keeper David James[LNB]In the first January transfer window in 2003, topflight clubs spent£35m and in 2008 the total leapt to £150m, from £60m the previous year.But nothing like that amount will be spent before the window closes at5pm on Monday February 1.[LNB]One agent said: 'It's never been so quiet. Clubs see that evenLiverpool and Manchester United have got nothing to spend so they feelunder less pressure to compete.[LNB]'Paying all the wages of a player on loan used to be a given, butnot any more. Clubs are insisting on paying loan players only until theend of the season,rather than the end of the contract year on June 30.' [LNB]   More from Dan King... DAN KING: Burnley 'sex up' dossier on Brian Laws16/01/10 Dan King: I could have been the new Fergie, laments John Gregory09/01/10 DAN KING: Commonwealth Games in Delhi on high security alert26/12/09 DAN KING: Dons' first home is now just a memory19/12/09 DAN KING: Olympic champion Duncan Goodhew fears for the future of British Sport12/12/09 ON THE LINE: Becky Adlington and Victoria Pendleton on tenterhooks05/12/09 Dan King: Manchester City edge closer to Eastlands purchase from council29/11/09 Dan King: Bolton Wanderers and the agents riddle21/11/09 VIEW FULL ARCHIVE FORMER Hull chief executive Paul Duffen still has links with the club and manager Phil Brown, despite the High Court action the new regime at the KC Stadium have brought against him. [LNB]Both Duffen and Brown are part of a racing syndicate which owns a horse that won on the all-weather course at Southwell only last Tuesday. Its name? Gifted Leader, a title Hull may not believe applied to Duffen.[LNB]The shuttlecock runLONDON 2012 chiefs are praying for the green light next weekend as they attempt to convince badminton officials that moving their sport to Wembley will not be a disaster.[LNB]It is believed that 2012 sports director Debbie Jevans will join Badminton World Federation chief executive Thomas Lund and other officials in a bus to test the claim by London chief executive Paul Deighton that it will be possible for players to travelfrom the Olympic Village in Stratford to Wembley in just 42 minutes. [LNB]London 2012 officials deny that they used advanced traffic control systems to speed IOC delegates through the city during the first inspection in 2008. With the Olympic Road Network only in place during the Games, next week will be only a guide to likely journey times. [LNB]Lord Coe says: Give way.[LNB]WELSH rugby fans will be able to watch pioneering 3D coverage of next Saturday's Six Nations clash with England after all. Media company O2 had tried to justifybeaming the live feed to 40 cinemas in England, but none in Wales, by saying they thought Welsh supporters would boycott coverage because O2 sponsor England. But popular protest, including two Facebook groups, means the game will be shown at Cardiff's Cineworld. [LNB]England manager Martin Johnson will hope his team do not produce an X-rated performance.[LNB]AND FINALLY...SIR Matthew Pinsent, Shane Warne, Michael Carrick, Denise Lewis and David Ginola are among the celebrities who have granted a request by Olympic badminton silver medallist Gail Emms to touch her baby bump in the hope their sporting greatness, as well as hers, will be transmitted to her first child, a boy due on February 26. 'If he makes it in sport, then it worked,' she said. 'If not, then it's a story to embarrass him with when he's older.'[LNB][LNB] [LNB]  Explore more:People:MICHAEL CARRICK, Denise Lewis, Paul Duffen, Matthew Pinsent, Phil Brown, David James, Martin Johnson, David Ginola, Shane WarnePlaces:Cardiff, London, Wales, United Kingdom

Source: Daily_Mail