Ahumada Transfer Falls Through At The Last Minute

The final hours in the European transfer market usually make for big splashes and as well as some that leave people scratching their heads.  This time around the market left everyone with a sense of dissatisfaction as very little went on.  The 2009 winter market will be remembered as one that One thing is for sure when they say “done deal” in football, they actually mean “we’re working on it”.   If there is one thing that annoys us in this neck of the woods is the way contracts, transfers, and loans are negotiated.    Also there is the occasional instance when the club feels remorse and decides to completely leave the negotiating table at the last possible moment.

Espanyol was just moments away from obtaining River Plate midfielder Oscar Ahumada, but the Argentines walked out at the last minute.  Embattled River president José María Aguilar inexplicably retreated from the negotiating table due to the eventual sale of another player, making it impossible to sell a player of the importance of Ahumada to the Millonarios.

Like anyone who was left at the altar, there were some big reprecussions at the Catalan club.  All of a sudden Uruguayan Iván Alonso was the only reinforcement.   The eventual loan of Ángel to Gimnàstic was scrapped and that left Espanyol even more needy since Jonathan left for Albacete.

It is just a microcosm of things going wrong for a team in every possible way.  The potential arrivals of Hernán Crespo and Lucas Barrios remained as such due to differences in money.  Other possible acquisitions fell off the wayside after Mané was sacked and Mauricio Pochettino stepped in.  Those are just a microcosm of the adversity that Espanyol have to endure in order to stay in first division this season.