So Tuesday just passed was transfer deadline day, which despite me having a busy day at work was hard to miss. Minute by minute reports from the Guardian and BBC Sport although I’m not quite sure there was enough news to actually fill that. In fact exciting transfers were few and far between, although Sky Sport News would have you believe otherwise. There is something exciting about the constant scrolling of the tickertape at the bottom of the screen with, “BREAKING NEWS: RYAN BABBEL IN HELICOPTER ON ROUTE TO SPURS TRAINING LODGE”. Only to be updated that he was in fact en route to West Ham, or not at all according to his twitter page.

It actually looked like a quiet day for Spurs in the transfer market until about 5.55pm, there were rumours of Rafael van der Vaart agreeing a deal with Tottenham. Surely not? Turned out ‘Arry had pulled one out of the bag with just minutes to go – just don’t call him a Wheeler Dealer. Obviously this is a quality signing who will no doubt improve the team however it did get me thinking back to transfer from yesteryear...

Back in 1994, Alan Sugar (now “Sir” or Suralan) was Chairman of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club.  We were just about to start the 94/95 season after a rather staid World Cup hosted by the USA. I remember these were the days where you had to check Teletext  for your football rumours, or dial up ClubCall which was a premium rate line (Dad swiftly put the kibosh on that after one hefty bill). Anyway, one day after getting home from school I turned on the TV to be confronted with Alan Sugar with his arms around Jürgen Klinsmann, in front of his yacht harboured in Monaco. WTF (or at least that is what I would have thought if that acronym existed back then – another thing we can be thankful to the internet for)?! I got straight on to the phone to Alex, “You watching this? Unbelievable”.

It’s probably hard to imagine for this generation, the unlikelihood of a transfer of that magnitude. These days, we are blessed with world class players in the Premier League as we are flush with cash. But back then, Klinsmann was arguably one of the stars of the USA ’94, a player at the height of his powers. And he was on the way to Spurs. Of course we know he went on to success that season before acrimoniously falling out with the then chairman.

But I will probably always remember that sunny afternoon, the day we signed Jürgen Klinsmann. I remember feeling unbelievably happy and also full of hope and expectation for the coming season. And I guess moments like that is what being a football fan is all about.

- Baydr