Today marks one of the biggest days in the football calendar: transfer deadline day. After 11pm, football clubs will no longer be eligible to buy players until the next transfer window in July. The January transfer window is sometimes seen as offering less value, because many clubs don’t want to sell their best players midway through the season. But January’s transfer deadline day ultimately results in a frenzy of last-minute activity, keeping every football fan on their toes until the very end. Will Alvaro Negredo move to Everton? Will David Villa find himself with Man City or Arsenal? Will Man United finally sign a central midfielder?
Because of the unpredictable nature of transfer deadline day, players often find themselves relocating with very little notice. Although they will ultimately be provided with somewhere permanent to stay in their new location, there is usually a gap between the moment they are signed and when their housing is found, during which they need temporary accommodation.We regularly source last minute accommodation for our clients and we represent over 70,000 apartments across the world. Due to the high profile nature of football players, privacy is extremely important to them, which is why serviced apartments are a perfect solution for them. Because serviced apartments have fewer staff than hotels, they don’t have to worry about people knowing their whereabouts, being hassled by the hotel receptionist, or social media-mad neighbours. Apartments also provide the kitchen facilities they need to eat a diet tailored to their needs.
The most money spent by a club to date in the January transfer window was £75m by Chelsea in 2011; £50m of that was the deadline-day signing of Fernando Torres. Will that be beaten this year? The biggest signing so far saw Mario Balotelli move from Man City to AC Milan, but as we’re not even halfway through the deadline day, we’re expecting to see a lot more from today’s events. Keep up to date with all the latest transfer news on the BBC Sport website.
André Zahn (Creative Commons License)
LiamUK (Creative Commons License)
