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We've all done it.

We’ve all played Football Manager, we’ve all done our homework and decided that this player is the one. We’ve scouted him, checked out his stats, worked out our budget and slapped in a bid.

We’ve heard his club’s demands, heard the player’s demands, matched both and finalised the deal.

Easy.

Real life, though, tends to be a little more complex.

How, though, are football transfers actually conducted? Former ECHO sports writer Neil Jones has taken a good look at the anatomy of a modern transfer deal.

1. The scouting

Probably the most mysterious element, but absolutely crucial. After all, if you want to make sure a transfer is a success, it helps to start by having the right player involved.

Football scouting is an evolving industry. The days of the old-school scout, making instinctive judgements from the stands, are not quite over, but they are fading, particularly at the top level.

Many clubs now use computer programmes, such as Scout7, to gather detailed statistical analyses of players. Videos are uploaded within minutes of a game finishing, enabling a manager, head of recruitment or director of football to run the rule over a player from the comfort of his office.

Additionally, the political element is key.

Scouts in the field now spend almost as much time gathering intelligence off the field as they do watching a player on it; speaking to agents, forging relationships with a player’s family and friends, and doing their best to stay a step ahead of their rivals. Few industries are more competitive, or, in football terms at least, more important.

2. The bid

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So once a player has been identified, the next step is the transfer (or loan) offer. Pretty straightforward, you’d think, but there is more than one way to start a transfer.

The most obvious is for a buying club to submit a formal written offer for a player, seemingly by fax even in this day and age, which will then be considered by the selling club.

But it is just as common for clubs to contact trusted agents to act on their behalf, either in finding an available player from another club, or finding a buyer for their own unwanted player.

These agents act as intermediaries between the buyers and the sellers, and can set the wheels in motion for a deal that otherwise may not have been struck.

3. Tapping up?

Premier League rules state that “a player under contract shall not directly or indirectly make any approach to another club without having obtained the prior written consent of the existing club to who he is contracted.”

Basically, that all transfer deals should be started from scratch.

Reality, of course, is different. Rarely will a bid be submitted for a player, without the buying club having contacted the player’s representatives to see if he would be interested in a move, and if so what kind of wages he would be after.

Frowned upon? Certainly, but it is pretty much common practice across the game.

The bulk of a deal is often set up before a fee has been agreed between the buying and selling clubs.

4. The negotiations

For those of us in the media, transfer stories provide stock phrases, which are almost becoming cliches. “Preliminary talks,” “advanced discussions”, “talks ongoing”, “personal terms”, “showdown talks” - the list is growing.

Such phrases evoke images of a group of people – players, agents, chairmen, managers – sat around a table sliding pieces of paper with figures on them to each other, to be greeted by a shake of the head and an ‘add a nought on to that and come back, matey.’

Again, the reality is very different.

‘Negotiation’ meetings are often brief, with an agent laying out a player’s demands, and an official (usually the chief executive, the head of recruitment or the director of football) giving the club’s side of things.

Issues which arise during negotiations often relate to, of course, salary, bonuses and signing-on fees, as well as personal and social considerations.

Players often leave the negotiations to their agents, and are kept abreast of the situation from afar. They usually meet with a manager before a deal goes through to discuss how he would fit in at his potential new club - and if they don’t, then they’re taking a huge risk - but in terms of sitting round a negotiating table discussing figures? Rarely.

5. The players’ dilemma

This is the age of ‘player power’ in football, and there is little doubt that in transfer deals, it is they who hold the key.

Fair enough, some would say. After all, it is their lives who will change. Considerations for a player prior to a transfer include how much playing time they would get if they moved clubs, whether they would need to re-locate (or learn a new language), whether they would be happy to work for the buying club’s manager and, particularly as you go down the leagues, the length of contract. Players, like anyone, want security.

And, of course, there is also the financial aspect. Wages play a big part in any job decision, and in football the sums are vast, and still on the up.

“Often, it comes down to how strong the player’s position is,” says ECHO columnist and ex Liverpool striker Neil Mellor.

“If he’s settled and playing regularly, it will cost more to get him out. If he’s out of the team and desperate to move, then some of his power goes.

“In my career, I turned moves down because I didn’t want to move to certain parts of the country, or to work for certain managers. Those things all go through your head, definitely.

"It’s a short career, and making the wrong decision can cost you.”

6. The agents

(Image: Photo credit should read CHRIS YOUNG/AFP/Getty Images)

Often held up as the enemy of football, agents in truth suffer from a familiar problem; the conduct of a few bad apples ruining the whole batch.

In reality, agents are an important part of the game, particularly at this time of year, and good ones are valued, by both players and clubs. As stated, agents can be used by clubs to identify players, or to find clubs for players they are looking to sell. Their network of connections is often a valuable tool for managers, from the highest level down.

They also, theoretically at least, should ensure players are able to focus on their football, without having to concern themselves with contract negotiations and discussions. A good agent should be as much a mentor and a confidante as a negotiator. They earn, mind.

“My number one concern is my player,” says Neil Sang, a Liverpool-based agent who represents a number of players. “I listen to what my player wants, and then try to make it happen as best I can.”

7. The media

The relationship between the media and the transfer window is very much love-hate. They love it because the stories keep them knee-deep in copy, but hate it because sifting through the garbage is an arduous and often disheartening process.

Regularly, reporters will receive tip-offs about potential transfers, often via agents but sometimes from other sources. The famous ‘taxi driver from the airport’ is usually prevalent at this time of year, while any number of elite international players can be spotted heading towards Finch Farm or Melwood.

Or the Lobster Pot, in more extreme cases.

8. The medical & the work permit

The final hurdles in a deal are the medical and, for some players, the work permit. Medicals at top-level clubs are stringent, carried out at the training ground – Liverpool also carry out tests on players at the Spire Hospital in Mossley Hill - and often well publicised through club’s official media channels.

But as time ticks away on deadline day clubs, naturally, have been known to take gambles. Liverpool, for example, signed Andy Carroll in January 2011 while the striker was sidelined with a thigh injury. Basically, if both club and player want a deal to go through, then it will.

Work-permits, meanwhile, are needed for any player over the age of 16 who does not own an EU passport.

The buying club, basically, agrees to sponsor the player to be in the UK. A certificate of sponsorship is then produced by the club, which is submitted to the FA. The FA will grant the work permit if the player has played 75% of competitive games for a FIFA-ranked top 70 nation over the past two years.

Failure to meet this requirement will see an application rejected, unless it can be proven a player was unavailable for selection due to injury. A club may appeal if their first application is rejected, with a panel convened to establish whether, in its view, the player’s transfer would be of benefit to the game in the relevant country. Arsenal, for example, successfully persuaded the panel to grant Gabriel Paulista, an uncapped Brazilian, a work permit for his move from Villarreal in January 2015.

9. The drama

It is a question that always gets asked when deadline day rolls around. Having had a month to get deals done (more if it is a summer window), why do we find so many clubs scratching around at 10pm with an hour before deadline?

Why do we have footballers, like Gareth Barry before he moved on loan from Manchester City to Everton, sat in their cars with a coffee and Candy Crush, waiting for the green light to go and finalise their transfer? Why have we got Harry Redknapp ringing up Niko Kranjcar like a broken-hearted lover, asking him to save him every single January?

Drama addicts? Possibly. But the biggest factor about deadline day, especially in January, is how much of a domino effect is in operation. Clubs try to plan as best they can, but one transfer leads to others – Barry’s Everton deal, for example, was dependant on Marouane Fellaini moving to Manchester United, while Liverpool signed Andy Carroll because Fernando Torres left for Chelsea.

Additionally, a sudden run of poor form (or injuries) can lead to panic, particularly if a club is battling relegation, or chasing promotion. The risk of not adding to your squad when there are four months left in the season, is deemed too big to ignore. Hence the “panic-buy” signings on the final day.

A club that is suddenly stripped of its star man late in the window, as Liverpool were with Torres, has to act fast, and that creates a knock-on, and a fair bit of drama too. Too much for Jim White to handle, at times.

10. Done deal!

(Image: Tony McArdle/Everton FC via Getty Images)

And there you have it.

The fee is agreed, the personal terms are agreed, the medical is done. All that remains is to lodge the signed and sealed, finalised paperwork with the Premier League and the FA...

….Oh, and to make sure you get the obligatory smiling photo of the player with his new manager, and his new club’s shirt.

Simple, eh?