Done Deals: Ali Maxwell follows the transfer chain
As Dom Ballard sets off a domino effect, Abu Kamara goes home, old managers call old players and Saints 'raid' Manchester City again, Ali maps the invisible threads connecting this summer's market.
Ali Maxwell
Gooooooooood morning, sweet world. Is there a better feeling than waking up on the Opening Day Saturday?
Sam Parry has you covered on Monday morning with our new EFL Recap, followed by a very meaty first Monday Pod of the season, with learnings galore.
We promised you 14 days’ worth of season preview content, which ended yesterday and didn’t include any transfer coverage this week.
But we just can’t help ourselves.
One of my favourite things about cross-division transfer coverage is the concept of Transfer Chains. Once you start looking for them, you have a great time. Here’s one that developed nicely in the past week:
Bristol City signed League One’s top goalscorer, Dom Ballard, from Leyton Orient;
Orient needed goals, so they signed League Two’s second-top goalscorer, Jaze Kabia, from Grimsby Town;
Grimsby needed goals, so they turned to Iwan Morgan from Brentford, who spent the second half of last season trying to make things happen in a fairly lifeless Shrewsbury attack.
With Morgan coming from Brentford rather than, say, the National League (albeit after being on loan to a team towards League Two’s bottom end), this transfer chain stops at three – but, to me, it’s a neat representation of the pyramid and the food chain.
“He’s quick, intelligent with his movement, works tirelessly for the team and has all the attributes we look for in a forward.”
That quote, from David Artell on Iwan Morgan, could easily apply to any of the three players in this transfer chain. It’s all very neat.
You get messier transfer chains, too. Here’s one involving EFL food chain disruptors Salford City. They signed Luke Molyneux (RW) from Doncaster Rovers of the league above. So, Doncaster signed Jordan Thomas (RW). He’d left Cheltenham Town having been their starter in that position, and they’ve closed the chain by signing 18-year-old Jake Evans on loan from Leicester.
Fun, isn’t it? Comment on this piece if you can identify any more transfer chains from this summer, involving three moves or more!
