Football

interesting article from one man football think tank, j wilson on the rise of the spectacularly expensive signing..

http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2013/jul/30/big-transfer-comfort-food-clubs

excerpt
"But what's really baffling is when fans start demanding transfers almost for the sake of it, as though they need a £30m deal every summer just to convince themselves they still support a big club. You see it on deadline day each window, people taking to Twitter and comments sections to berate their club for not being involved – when of course the truth is that, in the vast majority of cases, deals done on deadline day are hurried and not necessarily well-conceived. Or take the reaction among some Manchester United fans to the signing of Shinji Kagawa last season: there was a discussion to be had about his ability and his capacity to adapt, about where he'd fit in the team, but at least some expressed frustration he was "only" an £18m player. The urge to sign Cesc Fábregas seems to follow a similar logic: that United must somehow "prove" they are backing David Moyes by making a glamour signing.

Or take Arsenal's sudden desire to spend, something so all-consuming that even Mikel Arteta has started talking about how exciting it is to be competing for big-name players. Arsenal, of course, have not actually signed anybody yet beyond the annual France youth international, but with others there is a horrible sense of clubs rushing around buying anything they clap their eyes on: a Mies van der Rohe chair here, a Turner seascape there, chuck in a Le Corbusier sofa, a Persian carpet and an Isamu Noguchi table – does it all fit together? Never mind, that's what Claudio's for."