There is one recognised way for a football fan to know whether they are a true Transfer Deadline Day junkie. Tell them that a player like Anthony Wordsworth has joined Ipswich from Colchester, bringing an end to his long relationship with the club and watch their reaction. If they engage you in a full-flung conversation as to the merits of such player, they are a true junkie. If their face becomes as perplexed as Mario Balotelli being introduced to the idea of sanity then you know that a true junkie they are not. Transfer Deadline Day is the one day where you find yourself becoming relatively excited about the smallest deal, because in truth that is what you watch Sky Sports News for, the yellow bar on the bottom of the screen.

In case many wonder why the Transfer Deadline Day causes such a stir in the contemporary world, look no further than Harry Redknapp. The man appears to epitomise the madness that accompanies the day, his car window has already been written into footballing folklore. And the best bit about it? He has no idea. As a football fan on Transfer Deadline Day you live off rumours. However small and however false, a rumour for a football fan is like a spelling mistake spotted by Piers Morgan on Twitter, they thrive off of it. Tottenham after Kaka? Arsenal after David Villa? It's these types of stories that make you watch Sky Sports News for a large proportion of the day. For every rumour there is a transfer that causes heads to turn, for instance Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano going to West Ham at the time seemed as believable as Howard Webb giving the opposition a penalty at Old Trafford. But it happened. And transfers of that nature make this day worthwhile for football fans.

For a player, Transfer Deadline Day is no more than an opportunity. An opportunity to increase one's financial status and to perhaps escape a club where they have been held hostage for most of the window. For every inspirational signing, there is a Fernando Torres or an Andy Carroll going for over-inflated prices. That is the nature of the day; clubs in order to strengthen have to pay over-the-top prices to get the players they so desire. Non-footballing fans think of it like this. It's the last day of the Boxing Day sales and you are fighting for the true bargains, at the expense of your health and safety of course, you'd do anything for the items you want. Now factor in full media coverage, roaming Sky Sports reporters and Jim White and you have your very own Transfer Deadline Day.

For footballing fans, it is a day that could make or break your season, the aforementioned Tevez was recognised as keeping West Ham in the Premier League in the 2006-07 season. As a Tottenham fan I've had all too much drama on Transfer Deadline Day. Rafael Van der Vaart one window to Ryan Nelson and Louis Saha in another, two of the most ultimate panic buys ever, is a huge contrast. I'm not even going to go as far back as Hossam Ghaly in 2006; I'm trying to forget our signings during that period. For many clubs such as QPR now and Man City previously, getting their chequebook out and spending money is no problem at all. But for Daniel Levy at Tottenham, spending money seems to be as much as a problem for him as the forward line at Tottenham is for the fans. Whereas Harry Redknapp clearly embraces the transfer merry-go-round, Levy won't spend money on any player who is over his price-range. You can half imagine him commuting via the bus, because the price of petrol nowadays doesn't meet his estimations. It's ridiculous at times, as a Spurs fan we all know that we need a striker but well, this is what the Transfer Deadline Day is all about, a day mostly of unfulfilled hope. Enjoy.

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