As the commerce of global football moves deeper and deeper into the internet age, contracts and transfers have taken on an increasing level of ceremony and fanfare that sometimes distorts the actual importance of such matters both on the field and in the grand scheme of things. With the financial stakes of the sport tightening, news cycles shortening, and the appetite for sweet, sweet content growing, transfer windows have increasingly rivaled tournaments and trophies as the cathartic moments of fate for a club in the eyes of fans and media — this site’s content being a rather indulgent example.