Sam Winnall has revealed that deadline day is far from straightforward
Sam Winnall has revealed that deadline day is far from straightforward

"It's not the greatest of situations" - Sam Winnall on deadline day transfers


Deadline day can often prove to be chaotic for those clubs trying to finalise deals and welcome new additions.

Despite having an entire month to make signings, there's always a rush to ensure that a squad is in the best shape possible.

For a player, it can be 24 hours of uncertainty, particularly those who are on the lookout for a new club.

One player who has experienced the drama of deadline day is Sam Winnall. He made a loan switch from Sheffield Wednesday to Derby on August 31, 2017.

"It's not great, I'll be totally honest," Winnall told the Sporting Life Sky Bet Championship Podcast.

"It's not the greatest of situations, deadline day, especially when you're looking for a move.

"You genuinely just find yourself standing there, looking at your phone, waiting for it to ring. You're trying to ring your agent, he's trying to ring you. It's just a crazy, whirlwind day.

Sam Winnall in pre-season action
Sam Winnall in pre-season action

"I never think that anything gets done properly because it feels as if it's rushed. The day I went to Derby, on deadline day, I'd landed from Barcelona the day before because it was over the international break and I knew nothing about it.

"The following morning, I trained here (Sheffield Wednesday). I came in from training and I had about 15 missed calls from my agent. Deadline day, 15 missed calls, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to put two and two together!

"This was at 2pm. The window, at the time, shut at 10. So you're looking at it and you're thinking right, you've got eight hours to potentially have a life-changing move.

"It can be quite daunting. Speaking from experience, if you're going to move, you'd much rather it be halfway in the window where you can go and adapt to the surroundings and have a bit of pre-season with your new team.

"It's not ideal, but you look at it from a club aspect and that's when the best deals are done. They like to leave it as late as possible. So it can be a whirlwind day, it can be a bit frustrating but I suppose that's just the industry and the fans love it."

Sam Winnall celebrates his goal against QPR
Sam Winnall celebrates his goal against QPR

As the hours tick away, there's always a belief that players are rushed into their new club so that the paperwork is completed on time.

For Winnall, his move was no different, and he admits there is pressure from all parties to ensure they beat the window slamming shut.

While his move to Derby went through, it wasn't the case for another player who the Rams were hopeful of capturing the same day.

"It can honestly be like that!" Winnall stated. "The day I signed for Derby, there was supposed to be me and (Maikel) Kieftenbeld from Birmingham. Both supposed to sign on the same day.

"We were both there doing our medicals at nine o'clock at night, we had an hour to get it all done and all finalised.

Maikel Kieftenbeld was supposed to sign for Derby in 2017
Maikel Kieftenbeld was supposed to sign for Derby in 2017

"Mine went through fine. It was a lot simpler because it was a loan, there were less variables that could have hampered it.

"But what happened to him, for what reason I don't know, is that it didn't go through. It wasn't the correct paperwork.

"So he was at Derby for three days, thinking that he's signed for Derby and he's starting up a new life, started looking at places and then three days later they were like 'look, the paperwork was wrong, it didn't go through' and he had to go back to Birmingham.

"That's the bad side of it. At the time, we needed a centre midfielder at Derby, he was a centre midfielder but then you're thinking 'how has this gone so wrong?'

"You think it'd be as simple as faxing a couple of pieces of paper over, signing on the dotted line, but it's not as easy as that."


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