Transfer Deadline Day is exciting for supporters, a crucial financial date for clubs and great content for every media outlet, but what is it like for the players involved?
Deadline Day is about uncertainty and apprehension for some and confusion for others. It is a day when lives and careers can be turned upside down, in a good way or a bad way. A new challenge can emerge out of nothing with a dream move to a bigger club or reality could hit hard with a last-minute transfer that has only come about due to desperation.
So with so much at stake for players on Deadline Day, ESPN has spoken to three footballers who have lived through the experience of making a move on the final day of the transfer window.
With additional reporting from Julien Laurens and Sam Marsden
OLIVIER GIROUD
Moved from Arsenal to Chelsea on winter Deadline Day, 2018
“It is a really strange time for any player involved in late negotiations towards the end of a transfer window. It depends a lot of your situation: you could be wanted by another club but not want to move, you could want to move by ambition or for game time or for another reason, or you might be forced to move.
“For me, it was January 2018. I was 31 and I didn’t want to leave Arsenal, but I had to because I was not playing enough with the World Cup coming up at the end of the season. I couldn’t continue like that; it was too frustrating. I told [my former manager] Arsène Wenger at the time that I had to play, and I knew he was recruiting [Pierre-Emerick] Aubameyang too. I was disappointed to leave, but it was logical to give my career a new direction, so I was pushing for a transfer.
“I could have gone to Dortmund, who really wanted me and offered me a top contract. Roma and Sevilla contacted my agent, too, but ideally, I didn’t want to leave London, which limited my possibilities. My third child was born around that time too: my family was always going to stay in London and I wanted to stay there with them, especially with a newborn. That’s why I didn’t want to go to Germany.
“Thankfully Chelsea came for me. I spoke to Antonio Conte and he told me he really wanted to work with me. I needed to play before the World Cup, and after five years at Arsenal where I gave my best, Chelsea felt the right move to keep playing and winning trophies. Chelsea were a dominant force then in England.
“I had no problem with the upheaval. I was young, I had some family in London, but I have always taken the chance to move with the job. I had already been on loan at Royal Antwerp in Belgium as an 18-year-old, so I wasn’t fazed by the move. But had I been ten years older with a family, I can see how difficult it would have been to do the same move. It was definitely stressful, even at a young age.
“Was the move a good thing? Wigan would have been a good move for me, but with Spurs, I was training every day with Luka Modric and Gareth Bale, so I could have no complaints. Juande Ramos was the coach and he was really good with me. Told me how much he rated me and wanted me in his team, but he was sacked soon afterwards and replaced by Harry Redknapp who brought in his own players.
“I had a year at Spurs and then signed for Sunderland the following year, so I had earned a good move on the back of it. I wouldn’t change anything and I don’t look back thinking how my career would have played out had I gone to Wigan, but it was definitely an experience to move on deadline day.”
JULIÁN ARAUJO
Moved from LA Galaxy to Barcelona, summer Deadline Day 2023
Not all deals go as planned as clubs rush to meet deadlines. In 2023, Barça filed the paperwork to sign Mexico international Julián Araujo 18 seconds after the deadline due to what the club claimed was a computer error. FIFA denied Barça’s subsequent appeal. Araujo, a €4 million signing, still joined the club, but he was not able to play for six months until the next registration window opened.
“I was frustrated, there was nothing I could do about it,” Araujo, now at Bournemouth, told ESPN. “My part was done, my part was handled. That’s one of the things that I’ve learned throughout my career is just to handle what you can control.”
MARTIN BRAITHWAITE
Moved from Leganés to Barcelona after Deadline Day, winter 2020
Martin Braithwaite was an exceptional case in that he secured his dream move after the transfer window had closed. The striker (now with Gremio) joined Barcelona in February 2020, when the Catalan club took advantage of a LaLiga rule that allowed them to sign a replacement to cover an injured player. Braithwaite was so nervous about scuppering the deal that he tried to keep it a secret from everyone — including his wife.
“Usually I tell everything to my wife, but she only knew because it suddenly got leaked in the media,” he told ESPN. “It got leaked in the morning and I didn’t see her until the evening. My phone had been ringing all day, and I know hers was the same. When I told her I had to talk to her, she knew why. She understood!
“I just felt, you know, that I am going to wait and see how this goes. If it’s going to get 100% serious, then I will let [my wife] know, but there’s no reason to get people around me excited. I got excited, but I knew if I told people they were going to be talking about it every day.
“For me, it was fine to have it in my mind and not give it too much attention until it was concrete. Friends and family would want news all the time, and that can lead your mind to not being in the moment. I wanted to stay focused and leave it with my agents.
“Overall, moving to Barcelona was a good experience. I moved to the biggest club in the world but it was strange because I had always visualised myself there, always been thinking about it. Arriving [at Barca], with all the circumstances, all the press and everything, of course you feel it’s something big.
“When I started training, it was just like another club. I felt it was really natural, I felt really welcome by everyone at the club, all the players, the fans … they welcomed me with open arms. I appreciated that.
“Leaving Leganés was difficult. Sometimes when you leave a club, you can leave with mixed feelings, but they totally understood. They said this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance, so you have to take it. They would have done the same. They truly understood me. They felt it was unfair they couldn’t get a replacement, which I understand.
“Even [Leganés] manager Javier Aguirre was kind about it. You don’t have to mess with him, because he will put you in your place, but he has a big heart. [When I left] he told me go and enjoy. He said you have to go, this is your career, this is a big opportunity, of course you have to take it, just go and kill it.”
