Fry’sFootieCorner

I am writing these notes at the start of July and thankfully it is only a few weeks away from the start of the new season. Although the transfer window has only just technically opened, deals have been done throughout the month of June and speculation was rife at the highest level about a host of Premier League stars including Declan Rice.

Declan and West Ham United enjoyed a fine end to the season with success in Europe and it was probably an ideal time for him to leave his boyhood club – on a high. Clubs have been fighting for his services and you can certainly see why – he is a precocious English talent and he will only get better.

Arsenal have been busy in the transfer market with the arrival of Kai Havertz and whilst there were a few raised eyebrows, I can certainly see where he will fit in because he is a typical Arsenal player, stylish on the ball, times his runs into the box cleverly and can operate in a number of different positions.

Liverpool have also been fairly busy with the arrival of World Cup winner Alexis McCallister from Brighton and Hove Albion. It was a pretty good deal too, less than £40m for a player of his ability and he will help eradicate a problem area for Jurgen Klopp’s men.

Closer to me, we have been busy in the transfer market at Peterborough United with three new arrivals at the time of writing. My job has been to try and move some of our players on who are on the transfer list and whilst we have succeeded in some of those, it is hard because clubs continue to struggle financially outside of the top two divisions.

Agents continue to demand the earth and have unrealistic expectations of what their players are worth, but that is football, you have to roll with the punches. I still love the challenge of getting the best deal for my football club. My chairman does not allow players to leave on the cheap, it is about negotiation. Some agents are good agents and some are bad and don’t have the best interests of their player at heart, but you are always going to have to fight for what is right.

I have been in the game a long time, but I still love the buzz, I still love what I do. I still love going to watch games at whatever level and I can’t see that ever changing while I am on this earth!