João Moutinho On …The João Moutinho Deal

Good afternoon.

Nothing earth shattering I have to say. a.bola.com the Portuguese site ran a speculative piece yesterday suggesting that come January Andrè Villas-Boas will try to resurrect the deal to bring João Moutinho to The Lane.  An interesting turn of phrase from the author, describing the situation on transfer deadline day night as…

“a negotiation that left the British on the brink of a nervous breakdown, after being forced to cancel a pre-enrollment Moutinho sent to the Premier League, just hours before the close of the transfer market in Western Europe.”

Also it supports the notion that there was a deal desperately trying to be hammered out and not a sinister work of fiction as purported by Robby Boy whatsisname from TopSpurs.com and others unable to cope with reality which is in the main, normally quite a humdrum business.

Today the player has issued the following in relation to the move…

“The market has already closed. Not worth talking more about it, I’m just focused on FC Porto and not on speculation. This club gives me all the stability to show my football”

This is what you’d expect from a professional footballer and I guess leaves the door open for ‘another go’ in January. The issue here is third party ownership. As I said on the last HHH, if you were buying a house – and we all know what a completely thankless grind that can be- and then just as you agree a deal a third party pops it’s head around the door in Harry Enfield ‘only me!’ style, telling you they own 15%, odds on it’s Game Over. Do Not Insert New Coin To Continue. Go Home.