By Dan Holland — February 2, 2012

As you sit and read this the January transfer window will be drawing to a close.

Jim White’s eyes will be popping out of his head, Bryan Swanson’s phone will be on the verge of meltdown, Harry Redknapp will be conducting an interview in his car whilst holding up traffic around Spurs’ training ground, and numerous footballers will be in helicopters hovering over various cities in an attempt to confuse us.

Or at least, that’s how it normally works.

This year has (so far) failed to live up to the high standards set by previous deadline days, most notably last season’s when Andy Carroll and Fernando Torres were involved in two of the biggest transfers in English football history.

And that was after a month in which Darren Bent had already swapped Wearside for Villa Park (a transfer that still irks loyal Sunderland fans like myself), and Luis Suarez, David Luiz and Edin Dzeko had all completed big-money moves to the Premier League.
In comparison, this January has been somewhat of a let-down, though I am writing this a few days before the window slams shut (cue dramatic graphic on Sky Sports News) so there is still time for a bolt from the blue.

But all the important deals that have gone through so far have lacked a certain fanfare and excitement.
Gary Cahill’s move to Chelsea was sufficiently protracted to make us all bored of the affair by the time it was concluded, and Papiss Demba Cisse was quickly whisked off to the African Cup of Nations after his move to Newcastle.

Even the two real shocks of the window have been somewhat tainted – Thierry Henry’s return to Arsenal by the fact the great man is not his former self and will soon return to New York, and Paul Scholes’ surprise comeback by the knowledge that he is not the long-term solution to Manchester United’s midfield woes.

All I can say right now is that I hope something stunning happens on deadline day; but if it doesn’t, then we’ll all probably be glued to the TV anyway.

Managers may be united in criticism of the January window, but for fans it has become a source of excitement and wonder, even when nothing is really happening.

Such is the draw of the transfer window, a lack of any genuine action cannot serve to dampen our enthusiasm.
Even if you think your club doesn’t stand a chance of signing anyone, you never know, so we sit for a month with one eye firmly fixed on live transfer updates, constantly checking our Twitter feeds.

It may be filled with unfounded rumours, banal non-stories and pathetic acts of desperate panic-buying, but we endure it all in the hope of that one earth-shattering move.

Perhaps Carlos Tevez will finally find a way out of Manchester City, or Kenny Dalglish will finally bite the bullet and try to find Liverpool a natural goalscorer to supplement Suarez.

But if there is one defining and endearing feature of the window, it is that it captivates us all regardless of what is happening on the transfer front.