An Arsenal Fan: Surviving Transfer Deadline Day

Transfer deadline day is the best day in the calendar for most fans.

For Arsenal fans, it’s largely a different story.

Here we are then, the final day of the summer (it should’t be called that anymore) transfer window and we are approximately five hours away from seeing if we will be adding any further additions to our current crop.

At present, we have a bid in the works for Thomas Partey, who was always one of our top targets, and the early signs are that he will be an Arsenal player come 11pm.

Despite this signing, I feel that we would have come up short yet again in the transfer window as we needed a more creative midfielder alongside him, and it seems to be the usual case of we haven’t done enough of what was required.

Historically, Arsenal have never really been active on the final day of the transfer window, although us fans usually go into the day quietly hoping that the club will pull a last minute deal out of the bag. Many of us will be sat watching Sky Sports News throughout the day, waiting to hear that announcement ‘BREAKING NEWS FROM THE EMIRATES, or, if you’re like me, you just scroll through social media hoping to see any report from some unknown journalist.

However, as the minutes tick away so do our hopes and dreams, and we usually spend the day looking on in jealousy as our rivals celebrate another big-name signing. We have done it on the odd occasion – who can forget the late Mesut Ozil Transfer in 2013 and the Wenger panic buy splurge in 2011 – while for some it always appears to be a little bit more magical landing your top target in the last hour of the window.

As a negative thinking Arsenal fan however, the earlier we get our business done in the transfer window the better as we have more time for a Plan B alternative if something goes wrong. What if the player fails a medical on the final day? What if the player/club decide against the move at the last minute? These are just some of the things going through my mind on #DeadlineDay, and given Arsenal’s history in losing out on transfers at the last minute, I feel my questions are justified.

This transfer window we have been in dire need of some real quality and as the days and hours have counted down towards the final hour without any further signings, my stress levels have gone up. Today I am more hopeful of Arsenal pulling that last minute deal out of the bag and every time my phone gets an alert I hope it’s good news.

My phone has become my lifeline today and I’m unable to give my girlfriend the attention she craves as I’m spending every free moment scrolling for updates. I hope she understands.

This is how I’m surviving my transfer deadline day. I’m there are others just like me.