Exclusive - Inside transfer deadline day with views from the headline grabbers and the deal makers

As the most uninspiring January transfer window in Premier League history edges towards an anti-climatic conclusion, the debate over the future of what used to be a mid-season transfer scramble is set to gather pace.

Unless the annual transfer saga that was Saido Berahino’s future at West Bromwich Albion finally reaching a conclusion, the breaking news over the future of Robert Snodgrass or the underwhelming return of Joleon Lescott to the Premier League counts as news that excites you, the reality must be that this transfer window has become an unnecessary side show in the modern game.

Managers appear to be united in their eagerness to scrap the mid-season transfer window, chairman loathe it and in the end, the only winners are agents of unwanted footballers who get a chance to secure lucrative transfers that their modest talents barely merit.

So ahead of transfer deadline day, here is your Yahoo Sport guide to the good, the bad and the ugly facets of a transfer window that has fallen horribly flat in 2017.

FIRST THE HISTORY BIT

It was during the 2002/03 season that the periods during which clubs could sign players were restricted for the first time.

The transfer windows were dreamed up as part of a compromise agreement with the European Commission, which was aiming to preserve contractual stability for both the player and the club while allowing movement at prescribed times during the year.

The fear was that if European Commission regulators forced football contracts to fall inline with other businesses, players could give notice of intention to leave and compensation (or a transfer fee) may not be enforceable.

The main benefits are that it enables a club to lay out its plans safe in the knowledge that their star asset will not be snapped up by a big spending rival the moment he hits a run of good form, yet it has created an inflated market in the final hours of the summer transfer window (which runs from 9 June-31 August in the Premier League) and during the month of January.

WHO ARE THE WINNERS?

This month has seen West Ham held to ransom by Dimiri Payet as he demanded and eventually a move to Marseille and Chelsea faced with the prospect (which has been aborted for now) of their star striker Diego Costa reportedly demanding a move to China at a time when his club are in the midst of a push for the Premier League title.

In the opinion of West Ham co-owner David Gold, the transfer window has created a climate of chaos that clubs could do without.

“While I would stress that 99 per cent of agents are acting in the best interests of their clients there are a few who behave like wild animals and that is especially the case during the January transfer window,” states Gold.

“These agents get a sniff of blood, or a sniff of money in this case, and they are ferocious in trying to get it. I have to stress that it is only some agents acting in this way, but those who are stretching business practice to the limit need to be controlled.”

Gold turned to Twitter earlier this month to suggest the January window should not be scrapped and he also argues transfer trading should stop as soon as a ball is struck in a Premier League season.

“All of us would like a system that sees the transfer window closed once the season gets under way,” he adds. “That may be tricky with different countries starting their seasons at different times, but we could all pick a date in August and say transfers need to be concluded by then.”

THE MANAGER’S VIEW

Former Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew (above) admits he has been forced to deal with some wild negotiations with agents and players during his lengthy spell on the touchline, as he suggests the current transfer set-up is set up to favour agents.

“The transfer window only works for the big clubs with the biggest budgets because they can pick and choose the players they want and generally get them,” he tells us. “[Although] that balance has shifted a little in recent years with the extra TV money coming into the game.

“Then you get deals that are done and extra clauses are added on. Most agents you deal with are fine, but you get the odd one that takes the whole thing too far and that makes it difficult. What you cannot do is fall out with them because you may want a player they have on their books again one day.

“I always ask two questions when we are closing in on a deal; what currency are we dealing in and how many people are expecting to get paid as part of this transfer? I have had situations in the past when you are close to signing a player and the money involved switches from Euros to pounds to dollars. It is a difficult process, but one we have to work with.

“It’s especially difficult to get deals done in the January window as the tight time limit gives players and agents a chance to push clubs that may be desperate for extra money. I’m always glad when the January window is over because the speculation surrounding your players leaving can unsettle a whole season.

“We had a situation at Newcastle where Arsenal made a move for Yohan Cabaye in the final days before deadline day. He had his head turned and it took us some time to get him back to where he was before that. This is what can happen in a transfer window and the balance is heavily weighted for the clubs that can attract the best players.”

THE DEADLINE DAY EUPHORIA

Sky Sports News have made an art form of transfer deadline day in the UK, with their excitable television coverage adding to the drama as last gasp deals are finalised.

They may struggle to justify that euphoria with so few high profile deals being done in this transfer window, but Sky frontman Jim White (above with Natalie Sawyer) believes the transfer window remains a welcome addition to the football narrative.

“What managers who call for the transfer window to be scrapped may be forgetting is that footballers, managers, agents and everyone associated with this great game are part of the entertainment business,” White tells Yahoo.

“It’s theatre, this transfer deadline day. It has become a massive part of the game and as we get closer to deadline day, I sense the excitement building among football fans I bump into on my travels around the country.

“The images of Dimitar Berbatov signing to Manchester United back in 2008, as we saw him through the tinted windows at Old Trafford finalising the deal, are just one of many images that live with me from deadline day. I hope and believe it will be a part of the game for years to come.”

Sorry to ruin your fun Jim, but the golden era of transfer deadline day may well have passed, but we wish you all best pretending it is still drama filled as you front your always entertaining late-night show on deadline day.

WHAT IS THE SOLUTION?

Premier League big-hitters Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham may reach Tuesday night’s transfer deadline without making a major signing in January, with Gunners boss Arsene Wenger among those convinced the mid-season window should be scrapped.

“Either you leave it completely open the whole year or you close it completely for the whole year,” states Wenger (below), who accurately points out there are few players available for him to buy that will improve his Arsenal squad at this time of the year. “The way the system is now, it’s in-between where everybody becomes nervous in November until the end of January.”

If clubs were aware that they needed to stock their squads with the necessary talent to last an entire season, they could have no complaints if their summer recruitment drives did not give them the necessary talent required to succeed over the course of the campaign.

Yet that would inevitably lead to players spending too much time warming the bench or stuck in limbo should they fall out of favour, so maybe the solution could be to find a middle ground and open up a loan window in January.

This would allow clubs to off-load unwanted players in the hope that they could revive their careers elsewhere, while also opening the door for fresh talent to arrive on a temporary basis.

The current transfer set-up encourages clubs at the bottom end of the Premier League to splash the cash in the hope that their January signings can save them from relegation, yet history confirms that those deals rarely succeed and result in highly paid players draining resources in the Championship a few months later.

A loan move – with an option to buy if a club survives in the Premier League – could be a solution to a transfer window idea, as that would allow players and clubs to weigh each other up before permanent deals are signed in the summer, yet it is clear that the big January signing splurges of yesteryear are now consigned to the history books.

THE RARE JANUARY WINDOW HITS

Juan Mata (Chelsea to Man Utd for £37.1m in 2014)

Manchester United boss David Moyes hailed his capture of Mata as a game-changer for his ill-fated reign as the club’s manager, but the Spaniard did not lift his team as he was sacked a few months later.

Luis Suarez (Ajax to Liverpool for £22.7m in 2011)

Liverpool signed a sensational replacement for Fernando Torres in the January window of 2011, with Suarez proving to be a world class performer before he sealed a £65m move to Barcelona in the summer of 2014.

Nemanja Vidic (Spartak Moscow to Manchester United for £7m in 2006)

Arguably one of the best January window signings, Serbian powerhouse Vidic proved to be a rock at the heart of the Manchester United defence as he won the Premier League title on five occasions.

Patrice Evra (Monaco to Manchester United for £6m in 2006)

United boss Alex Ferguson pulled off on a couple of inspired January transfer signings in 2006, with Vidic and Evra confirming their worth as multiple trophy winners at Old Trafford.