This January, however, sees what I suspect is the biggest temptation for years for clubs to have a few mad bidding wars on ‘two up two down’ players being marketed as ‘penthouse perfection’.



If you are Arsenal, Manchester United or Spurs it is the perfect storm. They have new or newish managers desperate to add to their squads. These clubs are known to be very wealthy on a planetary scale which isn’t a great initial bargaining position. There is also a perceived need of new blood to lift each of them from what is, historically, a low point in terms of league position and points at this stage of the season.



The agents are circling in the water, they can sense the panic and they can almost smell the blood. They are expecting a feeding frenzy, but it can’t happen until the first one bites. It could be a lively few days after that first big deal.



I can recall one manager I worked with explaining that he thought he could get a player who was ‘maybe a little better than what we had at the club already’, but there would be a hefty financial outlay. I didn’t see that as a sensible long-term viewpoint/punt and stopped the excessiveness in its tracks. He wasn’t happy, but by the summer better players who could be more considerably sourced were available and we hadn’t blown the budget.



Another danger of panic buying is that everything hasn’t been considered, such as the player’s attitude, his fitness and the likelihood of him fitting in with the group. If you get a player who is on a big wage, maybe even bigger than your current players, it can cause discontentment. If he then doesn’t play every week after arriving and the players already there see him getting paid more than them for sitting on the bench or in the stands, then expect a few knocks on the door and demands for renewed upgraded contracts. They will understandably demand, at the very least, parity of pay.



So, there are unexpected effects of unwise January buys and the clubs need to be wary of these. Fortunately, Chelsea aren’t in a bad position compared with others in this regard. There is a desire to improve the squad, there always is and always should be, but it isn’t exactly a desperate situation. The market knows this and as such we should be able to make a deal or two if we want to, that is still good value.



There have been plenty of reports in the ether regarding Chelsea, from Zaha at Palace to Piatek at Milan and who knows how serious or informed any of these stories are. Most of the names mentioned have been impressive and obviously well-researched by the club’s people. Piatek would have been one of my first options a year ago, so I believe they are ‘all over’ the available players in the market that Frank Lampard has been interested in.

