It was the last deal of the summer deadline day and it contained all the drama. Defending champions Chelsea landed Danny Drinkwater, 27, as Leicester City signed 28-year-old Adrien Silva from Sporting Lisbon.
Drinkwater was unveiled at the Chelsea training facility in Cobham, Leicester filed the paperwork with the F.A. so the Transfer Matching System would clear Silva’s move to the East Midlands.
And then the problems began.
Having refused to sell Drinkwater until they had a replacement for the England international. Adrien Silva has yet to kick a ball for Leicester City in a competitive match for the sake of fourteen seconds.
That was how much the ratification of the paperwork missed the deadline by. Not unreasonably, Leicester appealed and lost. Sporting Lisbon shrugged their shoulders and declared the problem wasn’t theirs. Inexplicably, the Foxes failed to insert a clause about the paperwork being filed and in order before paying the Portuguese club. No refund was in the offing.
Sporting Lisbon shrugged their shoulders and declared the problem wasn’t theirs. Inexplicably, the Foxes failed to insert a clause about the paperwork being filed and in order before paying the Portuguese club. No refund was in the offing.
The Guardian, reporting today on the appeal’s failure, cites a club statement which will take the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. In the meantime, the Foxes languish in the relegation zone with just five points from their opening seven games.
In the meantime, the Foxes languish in the relegation zone with just five points from their opening seven games. And Silva, with no competitive action since August, lost his place in his country’s squad for their final two World Cup qualifiers this week.
With no taker yet, it remains to be seen whether Silva will wear the number 14 shirt during his stay at the King Power. Whether that will be before January 1st is another matter.