In newspaper terms this time of year has long been known as the silly season; everyone on their holidays, very little taking place in sport or politics, nothing much to report except exaggerated human interest stories or increasingly inane speculation.

In football terms that still applies. Everton made their earliest start to a season the other night and despite their entire European campaign hanging on the result against Ruzomberok it still felt like a mid-summer friendly. Ronald Koeman even excused a below-par performance by claiming you could not expect 100% from players after a mere three weeks of pre-season training.

In recent years the fuss and financial buzz around the transfer window has partly made up for the lack of football – some people even insist the bluffing and brinkmanship that goes on in the summer months is more enjoyable than the actual competition once the league fixtures commence – although a relatively new development is what may be termed the sulking season.

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Here is Virgil van Dijk, for instance, training on his own at Southampton after claiming his head is not right to stay on at the club that has been paying his wages, the same club where he happily signed a six-year contract last summer. Van Dijk’s head has been turned, in other words, but instead of doing the professional thing and buckling down until a move materialises, he appears to be putting as much pressure as he can on his employers to sell rather than hold on.

Now here’s Barcelona’s Neymar, losing his temper in a training session in Miami, as he waits for a record-breaking transfer to Paris Saint-Germain to be finalised. The player is probably not trying to force the issue in this case – Barcelona appear perfectly willing to sell him as long as the fee is around £200m – although it is tempting to wonder whether Neymar’s frustration stems from having to leave one of the best clubs in the world to play in a lesser league.

Alexis Sánchez, on the other hand, may be trying to force the issue with Arsenal, acting almost as childishly as a schoolboy trying to avoid gym class by posting a mournful-looking selfie and saying he is “sick” when due to return to club training after an extended break.

It is possible to blame the length of the transfer window. Were it much shorter and out of the way before the season kicks off then at least the infantile insults to the intelligence would be over in a few days rather than dragging on all through the summer. That is not the real problem, however. The sprawling transfer window only makes it more obvious. The real driver of this phenomenon is the amount of money at stake, and the power and influence of the agents at work in setting up the proposed deals in the first place.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Marko Arnautovic reportedly left Stoke City over the club’s lack of ambition to join West Ham, who finished one point above the Potters last season. Photograph: West Ham United FC/via Getty Images

Neymar to PSG may make no footballing sense but a deal worth around £200m simply has to happen once it has been mooted. It is stupid money, of course, but as film stars used to say, when offered stupid money it would be even more stupid not to accept it. Similarly, Southampton are unlikely to say no to something north of £60m for Van Dijk, even if they object to the way the player was unsettled. One imagines a bidding war will result as the clock ticks down on the window. The club may consider taking a principled stand but most people grasp the realities of a situation where big offers are being made, or at least discussed, and the player has indicated he wants to leave.

Stoke City were recently in a similar situation with Marko Arnautovic. It was almost laughable that the Austrian cited lack of ambition on the part of the Potters as a reason for wanting out, then promptly went and joined West Ham, but as Mark Hughes was forced to explain, once a player decides he does not want to play for you any more there is little that any contract will do to change his mind. Arnautovic signed a new deal at Stoke only last season and presumably did not feel the same way then, although to be fair to him at least West Ham are signing new players this summer and appear to be attempting to improve their league position.

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Stoke’s chairman, Peter Coates, was perhaps unwise to question Arnautovic’s decision after collecting £25m for a player picked up for £2m four years ago. Hughes’s only major signing this summer so far has been Darren Fletcher on a free.

Mercifully, Arnautovic did not turn his back on Stoke because he wanted to play Champions League football. Sánchez has told Arsenal that, and Arsène Wenger replied quite sweetly that in that case he had better stay for another season and help bring it about, although all parties in this standoff know perfectly well it is no longer how things work.

Manchester United managed to get one extra season out of Cristiano Ronaldo once it became clear his mind was set on a move to Real Madrid but that already seems longer than eight years ago. United kept the player as long as they could and still managed to receive a record transfer fee. Arsenal, one feels, will probably not be doing that. A record fee could be involved for Sánchez, and it could be Manchester City, Chelsea or PSG paying it, but it will happen sooner rather than later, for if the player and his representatives want a move they will most likely get it. The prospect of Sánchez sulking his way through a final season is surely too much for even the saintly Wenger to bear.