January’s deadline day keeps punters glued but managers can come unstuck

As desperate Premier League clubs roll the dice hoping for a quick win as the transfer window closes, the numbers tell a different story

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How much does the January transfer deadline day matter? It is a question rarely asked by those who impatiently skedaddle between Sky Sports News, Twitter and live blogs, itchy for fresh gossip, no matter how vague or violently spun. Perhaps for some the ride is enough: that breathless, hold-on-to-your-smartphone bullet train to Transfer Central, via rumour mill alley and “my-mate-reckons-he-saw” boulevard, with regular stops at QPR’s Harlington training ground. For the rest of us, a few facts might puncture the hype.

Do you know how many January deadline-day transfers into the Premier League there have been in the past four years? According to Omar Chaudhuri, a data analyst with 21st Club, it is just 74. That is, roughly, one signing per hour of Sky’s live coverage. And if you strip out players aged 22 and younger, who are unlikely to play many times during the season in which they are signed – such as Arsenal’s Krystian Bielik – that figure drops to 44, or 11 per deadline day.

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via Football | The Guardian http://ift.tt/1zshsyr