THE LAST POINT: Transfer window madness baffling

We've come to the end of yet another Sky manufactured hype event, Soccer's Summer Transfer Window officially closed at 7pm last Monday with weeks, if not months of hyperbole, controversy and conjecture mixed into an orgy of spending that leaves me wondering who really benefits from all the madness.

Premier League clubs alone spent over three billion sterling in the latest edition of the Sky promoted Transfer Window, Liverpool alone accounting for €481.9 million to set a new record, beating Chelsea's previous record from just two years ago.

That's a long way away from the world of Leitrim GAA but anybody who has been to a club game over the past few weeks will have head plenty of quips on the subject of transfers - you only had to stand on the sideline in Leitrim Gaels Community Field last Friday to hear some fairly colourful commentary, from both sides it has to said, on Leitrim Gaels' addition of the Jones brothers.

Judging from the jokes directed at Willie Donnellan at other games over the weekend, the entire county is engrossed in the subject while I've seen two versions of a Connacht Gold Leitrim SFC table, made up by some wags with a bit of time on their hands, with Fermanagh Gaels & Derrygonnelly sitting proudly at the top.

Transfers are an emotive subject in the GAA world but they're not exactly a new phenomena - in my time with the Observer, Colin McGlynn went from Kiltubrid to Allen Gaels, Gerry Butler from Eslin to Fenagh back in the nineties, Melvin Gaels saw Paul Brennan go to Bundoran and Gary Clancy go the other way before heading back again and all made big impacts and that is only a small snapshot.

THE LAST POINT: A FEW TWEAKS HERE AND THERE

This year, on the Ladies side of things, Michelle Guckian and Denise Stenson switched clubs to St Mary's and Glencar Manorhamilton, albeit without the  furore that seems to exist on the men's side. The LGFA has always had a few quirks to their system of club catchment areas and a smaller number of units which has led to some unique situations down through the years, none more so that seeing sisters Emma & Eibhlin Guckian on opposite sides when Emma came on as a Kiltubrid sub against Eibhlin's St Mary's.   

But it is fair to say, the impact Ryan, Conal & Garvan Jones have had on this year's Championship has been seismic and, for some, that is the problem - had three brothers without the ability and pedigree of the Jones joined any team, there wouldn't be a word about it but the Jones, all of who have starred for Fermanagh, have definitely improved Leitrim Gaels, their intensity as much as their footballing ability and they're forcing other clubs to lift their standards to match them.

Yet for all the noise about their transfer, there isn't a club in Leitrim that wouldn't have welcomed them with open arms! Clubs approved the transfers through the County Board, so they're here now and it is up to everyone to deal with it - that won't stop the comments and memes but, in a twist, Kieran Kilcline's switch to Allen Gaels hasn't excised the GAA public quite as much but the former Roscommon Gaels man is having just as big an impact for the Drumshanbo outfit.  

I'd imagine if there was an imaginary transfer market on the club scene, quite a few clubs would break the bank for Barry McNulty - the Glencar Manorhamilton man is easily the crown jewel in Leitrim football and more than a few clubs in Dublin, and even a few counties too, would be over the moon to have Barry in their colours, not that it is remotely likely!

In this imaginary transfer market, Tom Prior, Eanna McNamara, Oisin McLoughlin, Radek Oberwan, Darren Cox, Ryan O'Rourke, Keith Beirne, Mark Plunkett, Donal Casey, Keith Keegan, Killian Gaffey and Pearce Dolan would be high on the wish list  but that's the unique selling point of the GAA, that transfers aren't the norm and a player's place of birth decides their sporting careers as much as their  talent.

That's where professional sport is different - at the most elemental level, players are commodities who are bought and sold to help an organisation (club) advance their goals and while players undoubtedly develop loyalty for some of their clubs, those connections can be broken in an instant if club and player decide it is in their interest to do so.

I'm not bashing Liverpool here, although as a Toffee I'll be accused of just that, but the Reds who booed Trent Alexander Arnold for swapping Anfield for the Bernabéu will welcome Alexander Isak with open arms yet TAA, to give him his former moniker, did nothing but give his all for Liverpool while Isak, who refused to train or play for Newcastle to force a move, is the antithesis of the concept of professionalism.  

But that is the tribal nature of sports fans - we’ll rage over an Isak refusing to train for our club but shower him with adulation if we benefit. The Kop will sing Isak's name with rabid fervour and if they land another Premier League title or the Champions League, the incredible fee will money well spent although the fact that Arne Slot's side twice broke the British Transfer record this Summer has got to leave their fans in something of a quandary given their disdain for Man City's spending down through the years.

THE LAST POINT: RETURN OF THE MAC AND OTHER STORIES

Everton have done quite a bit of business after years of minding the pennies - €129.75 million in total incredibly only ranks us 20th in overall spend according to the Transfer Market website. We've spent over €100 million more than Barcelona and we're ahead of PSG, Bayern Munich & Inter Milan but over €100 million behind Notts Forest while Bournemouth, Sunderland, West Ham and Wolves are all spent more than us.

Yet in these early days of the season, it is a player we've spent nothing on that has transformed us - Jack Grealish has impacted the Toffees in ways the most diehard Blue wouldn't have dreamed of so maybe splashing the cash means nothing if the player doesn’t fit.

Liverpool's €144 million for Isak and another €125 million for Florian Wirtz may turn out to be real bargains but I wonder if City laying out €30 million for keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma is the best business of the entire  window. The Reds made the biggest splash in the transfer window but the real winners of the most recent orgy of spending may just be Chelsea.

Hard to believe but after spending a mind-boggling €328.15 million, Chelsea actually made a profit of €4.1 million while City's net spend was €136.4 million, Liverpool's €262.4, Man Utd's  €176.5 while Arsenal, derided after their timid display in Anfield, had a net spend of €283.2. So as much as money  makes the soccer world go round, you've got to wonder if all this spending is sheer madness as the rich get richer, the poor poorer  and the gap between the haves and have nots grows ever larger.