What is a deal sheet and is a fax machine still used? How football transfers are completed on deadline – The US Sun

There aren’t many better times in football than Deadline Day – and it’s back once again!

Teams across the country will be looking to beat the clock and strike last-minute deals with clubs that may be reluctant to sell.

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As the hour gets late on January 31st, you might hear a lot of talk about deal sheets and fax machines – but what really goes into making money transfers in the modern era?

How do clubs start a transfer process?

Once an approach has been made and an agreement has been reached between clubs, all relevant paperwork must go to Premier League officials.

They then check that all required criteria are met before the move can be confirmed.

The documents that need to be sent to the Premier League or EFL are:

• The players pull together
• A transfer agreement between the respective clubs
• UK work permit (if required)
• International release

Ahead of the deadline, the Premier League will contact all 20 top-flight clubs and see if they plan to move late in the window.

Deals are normally finalized between representatives of both clubs before documents are then sent for final approval.

To avoid backlogs, bosses make sure employees work through the night to ensure a smooth appointment day.

What is a deal sheet?

SOME transfers rumble into the designated window this late and may require a deal sheet.

The deal sheet can be submitted to Premier League officials in the last two hours of the window, allowing it to be sent out from January 21 clock continue.

It allows for a two-hour extension to the filing of paperwork, allowing clubs who struck a deal in the final hours of the window to ratify their transfer in good time.

Any club can submit a deal sheet up until the 11:00pm deadline – but not after.

Once the sheet arrives, clubs will have a further two hours after the deadline to send in their relevant paperwork and have the deal signed.

When it comes to international transfers, things get even more complicated.

In addition to all of the above criteria, buying and selling clubs must register the deal in Fifa’s Transfer Matching System (TMS).

The buying club enters all of their details into the system, as does the selling club – the two are then compared by Fifa to ensure things are as they should be.

Is a fax machine still used?

Every day, WE hear the old joke that a transfer didn’t go through because the fax machine was broken.

Things are a bit more high-tech these days.

The fax machine has been phased out, but clubs have the option of emailing desktop faxes and scanned documents.